Mason Beats The NJIT Highlanders

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Joseph Szymanski
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By Palmer Johnson

Your George Mason Patriots beat the NJIT Highlanders convincingly, with an 86-68 score, and move onto a record of 6-1.

The game was somewhat close for a decent bit, but Mason pulled away once NJIT’s Elijah Buchanan stopped hitting banked threes.

I know it’s NJIT, but Mason held them to 8 for 30 from two, giving them a 26.7% percentage from inside the arc. Even if it means giving up a little on the perimeter, as NJIT shot 12 for 30, 40%, from three, the interior defense is still nuts.

Mason as a team shot 9 for 16, 56.2%, from three, which is a pleasant surprise. Of course, that won’t happen too often, but I’m glad to see they have it in them.

Baraka Okojie drew 8 fouls. This is crazy. That adds up to two guys getting four fouls. Mason drew 25 fouls, he had nearly a third of them. The freshman PG is taking more free throws than field goals this season. That is also crazy. He has taken 33 free throws and 31 shots.

Amari Kelly put up 11 and 11 while going 2 for 2 from three. Kelly continues to be the anchor of the defense. Other teams simply cannot do anything inside when he is in the paint. He’s one of those guys that while his box score will look pretty good, you have to watch him to see his full impact.

Woody Newton once again had a good game. I can’t imagine how frustrating it is to watch him go 2 for 3 from three every game. 9 points and 8 rebounds while doing the dirty work is so awesome to have coming off the bench. Newton was the first guy off the bench this game, I believe that is the first time this has happened.

I had no clue he had that in his toolbox.

Ronny Polite has arrived. The senior PG has his best game of the season so far, scoring 18 on 7 for 11 shooting from the field and 2 for 3 from deep. Polite also had 6 assists to only 1 turnover, a lovely game all around. He gets my pick for Player of the Game. This is back-to-back good to great games for him, could this have gotten the ball rolling?

That’s the Polite we know and love.

Malik Henry was a sparkplug tonight. Early in the game, he injured his thumb, got it super wrapped up, came back in, and helped Mason pull away from NJIT. Big props to him for toughing it out when he easily could have taken the rest of the night off. I don’t know how he does it, but every Malik Henry bucket has you on your feet.

Darius Maddox had one of his better games of the season, scoring 17 on 7 for 12 from the field and 2 for 5 from three. He took a lot of mid-ranges, which normally I am not a fan of, but they were going in this game, so I guess you keep doing what’s working. NJIT had no answer for him, they weren’t affecting him whatsoever, the shot was either going in or it wasn’t, regardless of what the Highlanders were doing around him.

Jared Billups continues to be an absolute DOG on the defensive end, while contributing where he can on the offensive side. Unfortunately, his minutes were cut short due to fouls but the Siena transfer was as impactful as always.

Keyshawn Hall had one of his quieter games of the season, but he still contributed. The UNLV transfer got into foul trouble early, scored only 8 points on 1 for 5 from the field. While you’d like him to shoot more efficiently, it wasn’t like he was taking ill-advised shots, they just weren’t going in. I’d much rather have a 1 for 5 game than a 2 for 9 one, and Hall made sure not to try to take what wasn’t there.

After beating Grant Billmeier’s Highlanders, Skinn is 1-0 against the Kevin Willard coaching tree.

Next up, a familiar foe as Mason travels to Toledo.

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