Mason Looks To Get Back on Track at GW

Your 21-4 and 9-3 George Mason Patriots are taking on the 14-11 and 5-7 George Washington Revolutionaries.

I already covered a lot of background information on GW in another article. I will try not to cover things twice.

In their game against Rhode Island, they had Rafael Castro, Bubu Benjamin, Jalen Rougier-Roane, and Ty Bevins all listed as out. JRR is for sure redshirting his freshman season, and Bevins may be getting a medical one. Castro and Bubu have missed the last four and two games, and Rafael was spotted on crutches and a scooter.

George Washington By The Numbers

The George Washington Revolutionaries are the 82^nd ranked team on KenPom, with the 56^th offense and 167^th defense. In A10 play, they’ve had the 3^rd offense and 10^th defense according to their unadjusted offensive and defensive ratings. The Revs have been the 81^st ranked team, with the 53^rd offense and 166^th defense in conference play according to BartTorvik.

Since Castro was injured, GW is 1-3, and has been the 165^th team, with the 99^th offense and 262^nd defense.

Stats will be just conference play unless specified otherwise.

The Revs play pretty up tempo, with the second fastest pace at 68.9 possessions per game, with offensive possessions only lasting 16.7 seconds, third.

Offense

GW’s offense is a mixed bag, but they’re good at what they’re good at. 2^nd best eFG%, best offensive rebounding, but 12^th each in turnover and foul rate. The eFG% comes from 35.9% from three, 5^th, and 54.4% from two, 4^th. They take 50.9% of their shots from behind the arc, which is the most in the conference by a decent margin.

The Revs have done a decent job at getting to the rim, with their average two-point shot being 4.9 feet, fourth closest.

The rim is pretty red, and so are some pockets from outside, but there isn’t anything they truly excel at. I do like the low rate of midranges.

Luke Hunger has the fifth best offensive rebound rate in the conference at 12%. For context, Castro is at 15.6%, second. He makes 57.8% of his twos, and can someone shoot from three, hitting 5 of his 16, but his main flaw is the 22.5% turnover rate compared to just a 5.9% assist rate.

Defense

The defense isn’t as good. 9^th in eFG% and rebounding, 8^th in free throw rate, and 5^th in turnover percentage. I am going to assume that Hunger in for Castro lowers the free throw rate.

34% from three, 8^th, and 53.5% from two, 10^th. On the bright side, they have done a decent job at rim deterrence, with the average two-point distance being 6.2 feet, third highest.

Yeah, February is where the Hunger minutes are. That rim is so red. Teams made 58.5% of their twos. Not good. It wasn’t great before, looking at January and December, but now that there are zero Castro minutes, it is awful.

On the season, when Luke Hunger has been on the court without Rafael Castro, opponents have been shooting 69.6% at the rim per CbbShotCharts.com, which is extremely high. With Castro on and Hunger off, they give up 59.9% at the rim, and an eFG of 50.5%. With Hunger, the eFG% is only at 53.1%, so they get a little bit back on the perimeter, but the nearly 10 percentage points at the rim are probably more important.

Luke Hunger commits 5.4 fouls per 40 in conference play, and has committed 2 in 22, 2 in 31, 3 in 38, and 3 in 36 in the four games without Castro, so it has come down a bit.

George Washington Scouting Report (First 10 Minutes vs Rhode Island)

This section will pretty much be me trying my best to describe how they play differently with Luke Hunger playing 36+ minutes a game.

Offense

Hunger is a tick too slow with his processing, starts to pass when the guy should already have the ball. He will try for pump fakes, and GW players really don’t trust him with the ball and will only pass when there is nobody between him and the basket.

Defense

Luke Hunger will still go on the perimeter, but not as much as Castro. He doesn’t have the recovery speed.

Wing defenders have to overhelp with Hunger in there, will leave some more guys open from deep.

GW is still giving baseline, and will need their fours to be good secondary rim protectors.

They play a lot more passing lanes, and aggressively, since they do not want guys being able to challenge hunger.

Tyrone Marshall will play center when Hunger is out.

What Does This Mean For Mason?

After losing 2/3, Mason has to beat a GW team short of their best player.

With that being said, we do not know about the health of Kory Mincy, as he left the Richmond game early after re-aggravating his hand/wrist injury.

75-70, Mason. Book it.