Welp, back to .500 again.
There’s not a ton to unpack from this game, and I don’t have a lot to say. Mason got eaten alive in the post all. day. long. And their second half was BEYOND garbage. No lead would’ve been safe in the second half of this game given that second half, no matter how well they played in the first. You simply cannot expect to win ANY games in the Atlantic 10 getting out-scored by 20 points in the second half. Straight up.
Yes, this was a decent Rhode Island team, but this is not the Cyril Langevine Rhody teams that were NCAA Tournament caliber. That’s a fringe NIT team at best. And Mason couldn’t even compete with them in the second half.
In the second half, George Mason was out-rebounded 25-16, including 18-8 defensively. Overall, they were out-rebounded 44-36, 32-20 defensively. In other words, Mason had 20 defensive rebounds all night, and Rhode Island had 12 offensive rebounds. You should NEVER see a margin that close. URI dominated the paint too, 34-20.
Not to mention Mason shot 33% from the field today, to Rhody’s 53%. Of the nine threes Mason hit, just two came in the second half.
The frustrating this is George Mason led by 11 in the first half. There an argument to be made that Dave probably should’ve let EITHER Josh or AJ stay in the game with 2 fouls, but rather let Greg stay in the game when he picked up his second. Jordan Miller had a sensational 16 first half points, but had just six in the second half. AND YET, only Jamal’s 7 second half points out-scored him in the final 20 minutes.
What’s worse? Fatts Russel and Makhel Mitchell almost out-scored Mason in the second half. You add in Antwan Walker’s 7 second half points (in addition to Fatts’ 10 and Makhel’s 12) and those three ALONE out-score Mason, 29-26. That’s just getting outplayed, out-willed and out-coached. Everything that Mason did well against La Salle and everything they did well in the first half went straight out the window in the second half. There’s not much more to say about this one.
Mason’s next two games are a home-and-home with Saint Joseph’s on Wednesday and Saturday. The Hawks are 1-9 (0-4 A-10). Their only win was over UAlbany by one. Please don’t lose either of those games. Please.
