Well let’s hope that this Homecoming game goes better than last year’s. Mason is already out to a bad start in terms of the tailgating before the game, but nonetheless I digress.
It’s Homecoming here at Mason. Today, George Mason (14-12, 3-10) takes on St. Joe’s (5-21, 1-12) as the Patriots try to stay out of the bottom four of the conference.
This contest marks the 10th time these two programs have played, and while the series is currently in the Hawks favor 5-4, Mason has won four of the last five Atlantic 10 contests. Additionally, Mason is only 1-2 at EBA against the Hawks, with the Patriots’ most recent win over St. Joe’s coming in the 2019 season on Jan. 3 by a score of 85-60.
The Hawks are coming off of an incredible 72-71 win over Davidson, but has really fallen off the map. They started conference play going 0-12, meaning their most recent win over Davidson is their first A-10 win of the season.
This
team
is
bad.
The Patriots are still sitting on their 3 wins in conference play, and are currently still in the bottom four of the conference along with La Salle, Fordham and St. Joe’s. The Patriots next game might be their worst loss on the season, it will be against No. 5 Dayton and the insane Obi Toppin.
Breaking Down St. Joe’s
First of all, ya bird is dumb.
Why does he (or she, I don’t really care) flap their wings the WHOLE GAME?
Why do they come to ALL the away games?
Why pick a dumb mascot in the first place? The Hawk? Really?
So many questions, so many answers I don’t really care about.
Second of all, I have to give you props. Firing your Coach seems to be one of the greatest administrative moves the A-10 Conference has seen in its history. Oh, Phil Martelli? The guy’s a bum. He only got you 3 A-10 Championships, was A-10 Coach of the year four times, was named AP Coach of the year, and Naismith Coach of the year during his time with the Hawks.
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
The Hawks are a three point shooting team; they have averaged attempts 30 per game this season, and sink about a third of them. The Hawks’ set a new single-season mark for three-point attempts as it enters Saturday with 780. In comparison, Mason has only attempted 510 on the season and makes only about 6 per game (but that has only happened in 3 of the last 8 games).
St. Joe’s currently sits ninth in the conference for points per game with 69.1 and does not lead the A10 in any categories.
Keep your eye on senior Toliver Freeman, he’s coming off a 16 point performance against Davdison.
Breaking Down George Mason
#FunFact: Mason was undefeated (3-0) in Homecoming games under Dave Paulsen prior to last year’s debacle. PLEASE WIN.
Mason held the Spiders 10 points under their season average (75.1 ppg) and limited UR to 18.8 percent (3-16) from beyond the arc. They’ll need every bit of perimeter defense against the Hawks.
Jordan Miller posted 11 points and grabbed a season-best nine rebounds vs. the Spiders. He’s scored 10+ points in six-straight contests.
Mason’s most consistent scorer, Javon Greene added 11 points at Richmond, but is at just 8.3 points per game over the past three contests.
The Patriots come into this game still with nagging injuries; AJ Wilson has injured his ankle after falling on Goanar Mar’s foot in the GW game, Ian Boyd is still out for the season, Justin Kier is probably out for the season (even though it’s not official), and who knows what else. AJ needs to be healthy, he is pivotal to this team’s success.
Mason is 2-8 since senior star Justin Kier re-injured his foot (fracture) on Jan. 14.
Mason’s defense is struggling everywhere. They need better inbounds plays. Lots of change is needed to fix this team.
This is a must win for the Patriots, lose this game and well… we might be on the train back to 12 or 13th place.
My Prediction: This contest will be decided by less than 10 points. But, a George Mason “W”.
