Coming off a win against American and two week break, the Patriots (10-1) will face the Retrievers of UMBC (6-7) for the 21st time. The last time these two teams faced off, most of the GiantKiller staff was either in high school or coming off the high of the 2011 NCAA Tournament appearance in 2012.
Leading the series, George Mason is looking to add their 11th win of the season (another win closer to tie the best start in program history, 12-1 1983-84) and their 800th in program history. The Retrievers, looking to get to .500, will have a tough test ahead of them against the Mason Patriots who are currently undefeated at home. Winning only one game on the road this season, the Retriever’s odds of pulling out a win are slim at 16.2% according to the ESPN Matchup Predictor.
Breaking Down University of Maryland, Baltimore County:
As many of you may remember, UMBC knocked off number one seed UVA in the tournament and their Twitter account went viral so this game is being dubbed the Cinderella Showdown (our Cinderella dress was longer, better, and cuter tbh though).
Since then though, the Retrievers have done pretty well finishing 21-13 last season eventually losing to Vermont in the American East Conference Championship. This season is much of the same; beating out lower-tier D1 opponents, keeping it close with mid-majors, and losing out games against “Power 6” opponents like Georgetown and LSU.
Led by Darnell Rogers (14.0 ppg), who hasn’t played in six games, and KJ Jackson (13.0 ppg), UMBC averages roughly 71 points per contest — on par with Mason’s average of 71.2. Hit by injuries, the Retrievers have not had a steady starting five — starting 10 different lineups in 13 games. Ranking top-25 nationally in free throw and 3pt attempts, the Retrievers will try to draw fouls and shoot from the outside.
Breaking Down Mason:
After such a long break, two full weeks, the biggest obstacle for the Patriots may be themselves. Shaking off rust and coming off sluggish could put us in an unnecessary bad start and potentially leading to a major clean up in the second half to secure the W.
Coming off a season high 14 points against American, Justin Kier, is back and we could see him make his way back into the starting line up (a debate on the last By George Podcast). Xavier Johnson (12pts) and Javon Greene (13pts) had some great performances last game as well.
Jordan Miller had an off game, making only 8pts against American. Hopefully he can pop-off again today to secure the win against the UMBC Retrievers. Personally, I am looking forward to AJ Wilson continuing to rack up blocks and moving up the Mason All-Time Blocks list currently at No. 5 just below Eric Copes.
