By Palmer Johnson
Tony Skinn will be officially making his return to Fairfax on Monday, November 6th against the Monmouth Hawks. This will be Skinn’s first appearance for an official game as a coach or player in Fairfax since his senior night on February 25th, 2006, when Mason blew out James Madison 95-68.
This is a good first game for Skinn; it gives him an opportunity to tune up the team and his coaching staff against a D1 team that they should beat handily.
Let’s also welcome the new coaching staff to Mason: Steve Curran, formerly of St. Bonaventure, may be in his first season as part of the Mason staff, but he is plenty familiar with the atmosphere of EagleBank Arena. Mike Ekanem, formerly of Sam Houston State, and Louis Hinnant, formerly of UMass Lowell, will be making their Mason debuts. Lamar Butler, another member of the Final Four run, will be returning for his first collegiate game in Fairfax since the previously mentioned JMU senior night.
Let’s give them a great first impression of Mason Nation and the newly rebranded student section, the Mason Maniaks.
Meet Monmouth
Monmouth, who moved to Mason’s old stomping grounds, the CAA, before last season, is coached by three-time MAAC Coach of the Year, King Rice. KenPom has them as the 294th ranked team in the country. Compared to Mason currently at 164, there is a large gap.
Based on last season, the Hawks are primarily a two-point scoring team, being ranked 360th in percentage of points coming from the three-ball, while ranking 359th in three-point percentage at 28.8%. On the other end, they play aggressive defense, being near the top in steal and turnover percentage, but also near the bottom in both two and three-point percentage given up.
Their top scorer from last year, forward Myles Foster, transferred to Illinois State. Foster was almost entirely an inside scorer, so this could lead to a more balanced offense.
Three guys to watch out for are coach King Rice’s son, graduate guard Xander Rice, senior forward Klemen Vuga, and sophomore wing Jack Collins.
Xander made Third-Team All-Patriot League last season, averaged 14.1 points, 3.8 assists, and 2.5 rebounds on 42.5% shooting from the field, 36.5% from three, and 81.9% from the line for Bucknell.
Vuga averaged 9.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game while hitting 47.1% of his shots, 22.2% of his threes, and 72% of his free throws while being one of Monmouth’s better defenders.
Collins made the CAA All-Rookie Team last season, streaky season, averaged 10.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.9 steals per game on 35.3% shooting from the field, 29.7% from three, and 71.8% from the line for the Hawks. The All-Rookie Team member had a scoring outburst in the conference tournament against Hampton, scoring 32 on 10/13 from the field and 4/5 from deep.
The Game
With all due respect to Monmouth, I think they are closer to St. Thomas than West Virginia, and based on the first exhibition game, they are going to have a tough time scoring the ball inside. I would be very surprised if Monmouth is able to handle Mason’s combination of size, speed, and length. They are going to need their guys to make the most of their outside shots, which is not their specialty.
Mason wins this game easily as long as they protect the paint like they should and Monmouth isn’t hitting an outlier rate of threes.
The two things I am most looking forward to in this game is seeing freshman PG Baraka Okojie’s role and performance, and how well the nearly completely-new team has gelled together. Was Skinn letting Okojie get extra play when the games didn’t matter, or is he truly ready to be the backup point guard? I’m leaning heavily toward the latter. Baraka could, and should be a candidate for the All-A10 Rookie Team.
Prediction: Skinn stays undefeated, Mason wins 80-61. Amari Kelly locks down the paint and Jared Billups neutralizes Xander Rice. If Mason knocks down the shots that they should, this should be an easy win and a great way to start the Tony Skinn era.
Bring your friends and family to the game. Fill EagleBank Arena. Be loud. Get on your feet. The Tony Skinn era has started. Get excited, Mason Nation!
