Well, that was better- or at least it didn’t take two overtimes this time!
The Good
Let’s talk about the good here: Mason swept this week’s series against Saint Joseph’s. It may have been closer than I might’ve liked (especially since SJU is now 1-12, 0-7) but two wins nonetheless. Mason avoided stepping on a landmine this week. A win is a win. I’ll take it.
George Mason has now won five straight games over Saint Joseph’s. Their last loss to the Hawks came during the 2018 Atlantic 10 Tournament 2nd Round, when the Patriots fell 68-47.
Jordan Miller led the team in scoring with a cool 18 points in 38 minutes played.
Bahaïde Haïdara had quietly one of his better games of the season. He had 7 points and 4 assists, including going 3/4 from the line. Those three were his first made free throws of the season.
Javon Greene continued his streak of hot shooting, draining 4 threes today, on 4/6 shooting. He also had 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Mason is now 4-4 in the Atlantic 10, tied for 7th place with Rhode Island (worth noting URI owns the tiebreaker by virtue of their head-to-head win over Mason). My goal for this season at this point is to avoid the Wednesday Night Pillow Fight™ in the A-10 Tournament. That’s a tall task for this program, especially given how deep the conference is this year. Just win the games you’re supposed to win, and you’ll put yourself in a decent position. In Mason’s final 10 games, they’ll face GW twice, UMass again, plus Fordham. There’s also a beatable Duquesne team in there too. (Obviously, these games are written on the calendar in pencil, not pen, but I can only go off of what I have here).
The Bad
AJ Wilson got injured early in the first half, and although he did come back in the game, he played just 6 minutes after his injury, for 8 minutes total. Mason certainly needs him to heal up quickly.
The offense looked kinda lackluster for a good chunk of this one.
Saint Joseph's is the fourth-worst defense in Division I.
Mason has scored 46 points through 30 minutes today.
— Daniel Frank (@n1a2v3y4) January 23, 2021
46 points in 30 minutes is pretty terrible. But to their credit, Mason scored 25 points in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Mason turned Saint Joseph’s over just 7 times today, and turned the ball over 15 times themselves.
Overall, not too much to really complain about today. Should Mason have beaten this team by 20+? Absolutely. But a win is still a win. Like I said earlier, they avoided stepping on a landmine this week. That’s all I can really ask of them.
Looking Ahead
In theory, George Mason is set to host Revolutionary Rival George Washington on Wednesday in EBA. I say in theory because the Colonials went on COVID pause last week and have yet to return to team activities. Time will tell the fate of this game. If it happens, it’ll be a 7PM tip and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+. And I’ll be in the building too for the first time in 2021. Fingers crossed!
