George Mason struggles against VCU, falls to third in the A10

February 3, 2019

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On Saturday, George Mason (13-9 7-2) fell to VCU (15-6, 6-2) in a closely fought battle up until the about the 10:40 mark in the second half.

I have soooo much to say.

In the first half, VCU went 14-29 from the field, 4-14 from three, recorded 16 rebounds, and 12 assists. The Rams were dominant in the first half, taking control of the momentum at any chance they got. They finished the half with 38 points altogether.

Mason, on the other hand, was stricken by a late injury with Jamal Hartwell II, who sprained his knee the day prior at practice. Through the first 20 minutes, the Patriots accumulated 30 points going 11-26 from the field, 1-8 from behind the arc, grabbed 19 rebounds, and recorded 9 turnovers.

When the second half started, the momentum seemed to be going in the favor of the Patriots but was instantly silenced after the 10:40 mark with VCU converting on 3 consecutive three-pointers. The Rams finished the second half with 41 points, going 12- 26 from the field, 7-18 from three, recorded 17 rebounds, and dished out 9 assists.

Mason started to struggle halfway through the second half, they finished this half with 33 points going 14-32 from the field, 1-11 from behind the arc, and recorded 19 rebounds. There was so much wrong with this performance and the poor officiating did not help.

MASON FALLS TO VCU 79-63

Some notable things from this game:

There was very sloppy play all-around from Mason. Otis Livingston II had 5 turnovers and handled the ball poorly in this one.

Mason struggled against VCU’s full-court press turning the ball over multiple times.

One day, Mason will learn not to inbound into the corner against VCU’s press. One day…

— Joe Campione (@jcamp459) February 3, 2019

The Patriots struggled from the free throw line going 11-19, with Justin missing 4 out of his 7 attempted free throws.

Mason recorded 23 fouls in this game, with two players (Justin Kier and Jordan Miller) fouling out and three others recording 3 fouls. Some fouls coming from questionable calls from these referees.

The Patriots seemed to stop feeding the post after it was tied at 52, even though it was working well. Paulsen’s response as to why that was? Fatigue.

I will not understand why Mason went away from the post. Their forwards got them back into the game and then Mason’s offense almost completely abandoned them down the stretch.

— Tyler Byrum (@theTylerByrum) February 3, 2019

Where is AJ Wilson? We’re either playing the hardest game of “Where’s Waldo” or something’s going on. He played literally 0 minutes in this one. ZERO. GK asked Paulsen the status of AJ in the presser, to which he responded with something along the lines of we have Jarred and Gregg so why put him in.

Something sketchy is going on here, and I don’t like it. AJ is not coming back from any injury nor has he been playing so badly that he doesn’t deserve playing time.

However, here are a couple positives from this night:

Jordan Miller finished the night with his first career double-double recording 14 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

Mason had 4 players score in double-figures in this game, a decent balance of the points.

I don’t care what anybody says, the Green Machine is the best band in country, on a completely different level than the Peppas. FACTS.