Mason Wins Back-To-Back vs. Davidson and GW

By Palmer Johnson

Your George Mason Patriots got back on track after beating Davidson on the road and blowing out George Washington at home to move to a record of 17-8 overall and 6-6 in the conference.

Mason had to win both of these games, as one more loss would have put them in the pillow fight conversation, which is not something anyone wants to be a part of.

The theme across the two games was defense, as Mason’s opponents scored under a point per possession in both.

Keyshawn Hall had himself a great couple of games, winning KenPom MVP in both of them.

Davidson

Your George Mason Patriots beat the Wildcats in a 57-55 thriller on the road. This was a much needed win.

This game started off as the Tre Wood game, with him ending up with 12 points on 5-7 shooting, but in the second half, Keyshawn Hall scored 22 of Mason’s 31. Dominance.

Big Guard ended up scoring 25 on 6-13 shooting and 10-11 from the line, which included him going 3-5 from three. Davidson realized that they couldn’t really stop him and decided beating him up was the best option. Hall made an absolutely nuts pass with his non-dominant hand to the opposite corner, but I think that was the Jared Billups three that got blocked.

Both Austin Ball and Malik Henry made the most of their playing time, with Ball scoring 8 points in only 12 minutes, going 2-3 from downtown. Henry was in the game for a while due to Amari Kelly getting in foul trouble, but scored 6 and grabbed 8 boards, including four offensive rebounds. That’s how you get more playing time.

I’m not going to lie, when Mason was up two with a couple seconds left, I was so sure a random Davidson guy who shot in the low 30s from deep was going to be wiiiiide open for three, but Mason played awesome defense and didn’t let up a real shot.

Mason winning on the road against a quality A10 opponent while missing Darius Maddox is a very encouraging sign of things to come once he comes back.

George Washington

Mason dominated this game. Dominated. The score ended up being 90 to 67, but anyone who watched the game could tell you that it wasn’t this close.

For the last ten minutes of the game, Mason was pretty much running it down to five seconds left and then taking a bad shot. They knew that they would win by less, but guaranteed the win. At this point in the season, NET and KenPom don’t really matter since there’s no at-large potential for the Patriots.

Mason really took advantage of the lack of big man, and therefore interior defense depth for GW, as they shot 70.6% from two.

Austin Ball had his best game as a Patriot, not only because he got his career high in points with 10, but because he was doing it in ways we haven’t seen before. Ball went 4-4 from two and 0-3 from three. In the past, if the three-ball wasn’t falling, he wasn’t contributing much, but he really took advantage of the weak interior defense and was hitting shots freshmen shouldn’t be hitting.

Austin Bucket getting a 🪣 https://t.co/wsWMFn1iGC pic.twitter.com/x3JV8sUAf0

— By George. (@ByGeorgeGMU) February 14, 2024

This is back-to-back good games for Ball. Scoring 18 points over two games is really good for a true freshman. 5-6 from two and 2-5 from three is the type of efficiency you love to see from a guy who is scrapping for minutes. This stretch has gotten me pretty excited for what he can develop into. At the very least, we have seen he will be a contributor throughout his college career.

“The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.” – The great Al McGuire.

Hall once again ended up being the leading scorer, scoring 20 on 7-11 shooting while grabbing 12 boards, but it really could have been anyone on that night. I said he was going for 40, and I truly think he would have gotten it if GW was somewhat keeping pace with Mason on offense. A big thing for Keyshawn these couple of games was that he only had two turnovers. I will absolutely take one turnover a game from him.

Fluid in transition.@baraka_okojie ➡️ @xkeyy2 pic.twitter.com/F8rb3SpFsC

— George Mason Men's Basketball (@MasonMBB) February 14, 2024

Woody Newton was showing his potential this game, making some super athletic plays, including a fun dunk. 13 ties his Patriot high with the Tennessee game, but instead of doing it with the three, he went 4-6 from two. If we can get this Woody in the coming stretch, this team will reach new heights.

WOODY with authority.#PatriotPressure pic.twitter.com/3BL0ZtBoqV

— George Mason Men's Basketball (@MasonMBB) February 14, 2024

I can’t talk about everyone, but I do need to mention that Jared Billups went 2-3 from three, who was also part of stopping James Bishop. You aren’t losing many games where Billups goes 2-3 from deep.

Ideal start!@jaredbillups1_ | #PatriotPressure pic.twitter.com/XyGixtZo4n

— George Mason Men's Basketball (@MasonMBB) February 14, 2024

Kam Johnson has struck once again, scoring 4 on 2-2 shooting while also grabbing three rebounds in only two minutes of playing time. The FORMER walk-on continues to entertain Mason fans whenever he checks in. Good for him.

The team as a whole played awesome defense, even if the score doesn’t show it. James Bishop scored 10 points on 3-15 shooting. GW isn’t winning many games where he takes that many shots and scores so little.

Maddox was also out for this game, but the theory is that he could have played, but they would only use him if they needed him. Clearly, they didn’t. We knew that after the first media timeout. He should be healthy and well-rested for the Dayton game.

Conclusion

As you can tell, this was a great stretch for Mason. Beating a team that is around your caliber on the road and then blowing out your rival, I’m not sure you could ask for much more. Mason now looks forward to Dayton, with 8 days of rest. If there’s any game I want a break before, it’s this one.