By Palmer Johnson
PATRIOT PRESSURE!
Your George Mason Patriots have won their season opener against Monmouth by the score of 72-61. Tony Skinn gets his first win as a head coach, and the players share the same sentiment as the fans.
— George Mason Men's Basketball (@MasonMBB) November 7, 2023
This is a great start to the Tony Skinn era. The team played efficient offense, and didn’t let up anything easy on defense.
My three biggest takeaways from this game were that Amari Kelly can shut down the paint if you let him sit there, Darius Maddox can save the day when the defense shuts down your play, and Baraka Okojie is continuing to show Mason Nation that he can run the offense when he should be a senior in high school.
Amari Kelly may have had the best game of his career. He earned his second career KenPom MVP, scored a career-high 19 points, locked up the paint, and hit a soul-crushing three.
I cannot imagine how annoying it is to watch your team play great defense for 25 seconds and then see Darius Maddox rise up and hit a contested three.
Baraka Okojie is the real deal man. This isn’t a Linsanity run, this isn’t him getting sheltered by the system, he is truly a starting caliber point guard already.
💪💪💪@baraka_okojie | #PatriotPressure pic.twitter.com/rFhiuM1cLR
— George Mason Men's Basketball (@MasonMBB) November 7, 2023
It is worth noting that Woody Newton might be a dirty work guy this year. He might only get a couple of shots a night but uses his NBA-level body to make plays that need to be made.
Blocks on blocks pic.twitter.com/48PpJSjqsB
— By George. (@ByGeorgeGMU) November 7, 2023
Keyshawn Hall also showed the ability to make an impact without the ball in his hands, grabbing 10 rebounds.
Malik Henry went down with an injury in the second half, but came back to the bench and gave Skinn a thumbs up. Rest assured Mason Nation, he seems to be alright.
Jared Billups, along with the other perimeter guys, turned Xander Rice into a black hole on offense, with him starting 0-8, and ending up scoring 21 on 7/21 from the field. Way to shut him down.
This was a very fun game to watch, it never felt like Mason was going to lose, but never felt like the game was completely put away until the final seconds. Every shot felt like it mattered.
Your George Mason Patriots are 1-0, along with Tony Skinn, who stays undefeated.
Get excited Mason Nation. Next up, Austin Peay.
