Game 15: GMU (10-4 / 1-0) at Rhode Island (11-2 / 0-1) on Saturday, January 4, at 2:00 PM.

[Patriotsince81]

Rhode Island was picked to finish 11th in A10 Preseason Polls. Jaden House was voted onto the 3rd Team All Conference.

The game is on USA.

KenPom: Gives us a 45% chance of winning.
GMU - 84
Rhode Island - 90
NET:
Mason - 88
Rhode Island - 67

We are 8-7 (.533) against Rhode Island all-time.

Rhode Island is currently 11-2 on the season and 0-1 in A10 play. They are 8-0 at home, 0-2 on the road, and 3-0 at neutral sites.

Schedule: https://gorhody.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Wins: Fairfield (96-58), Holy Cross (91-77), Franklin Pierce (105-73), Lafayette (86-72), College of Charleston (91-53), Detroit Mercy (81-75), UT Arlington (83-78), Yale (84-78), Providence (69-63), Central Connecticut St. (77-69), Temple (85-79)
Losses: Brown (84-80), Duquesne (67-55)

Probable Starters:
6’1” Sebastian Thomas - 17.6 ppg & 4.0 reb - Senior
6’7” David Green - 16.3 ppg & 6.4 reb - Senior
6’3” Jamarques Lawrence - 11.2 ppg - Junior
7’0” Javonte Brown - 10.6 ppg & 6.4 reb - Senior
6’6” Tyonne Farrell - 7.0 ppg - Freshman

Reserves averaging double figure minutes:
6’4” Jaden House - 10.9 ppg - Senior - has 2 starts
6’9” David Fuchs - 6.2 ppg - Sophomore
6’3” Cam Estevez - 4.8 ppg - Sophomore - has 1 start
6’8” Drissa Traore - 3.3 ppg - Junior
6’5” Quintin Diboundje - 2.7 ppg - Senior

Roster: https://gorhody.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster?path=mbball

Team Stats:

Rhode Island averages 85.7 points (1st in the A10) per game while giving up 71.6 (10th in the A10).

The Rams shoot 48.0% from the floor (2nd in the A10) and 36.9% from 3 (1st in the A10).
Opponents are shooting 39.9% from the field and 29.4% from 3.

They shoot 72.0% from the free throw line.

The Rams have out rebounded opponents by 6.5 boards per game and average 12.6 turnovers per contest.

Stats: https://gorhody.com/documents/2024/12/11/2425_Combined.pdf

Thoughts: The Rams didn’t get much preseason respect when they were picked to finish 11th in the league. So far they have one Quad 2 win against Providence. They are 5-1 against Quad 3 opponents and 4-0 against Quad 4 teams. So, make what you want out of their schedule and record to date. Their stats are very impressive.

It’s never easy in the A10. It sure would be nice to get a road win and start off 2-0 in league play.

Discuss.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

We are going to need to be hot on the perimeter in order to spread their defense and work the inside.

Eff it - I am drinking --- I say....


US - 74
Them - 73

 

[GMU79]

The Rams lost to Duquesne this afternoon. Not all stats updated at the time of this post.

Rhode Island was picked to finish 11th in A10 Preseason Polls. Jaden House was voted onto the 3rd Team All Conference.

The game is on USA.

KenPom: Gives us a 45% chance of winning.
GMU - 84
Rhode Island - 90
NET:
Mason - 88
Rhode Island - 67

We are 8-7 (.533) against Rhode Island all-time.

Rhode Island is currently 11-2 on the season and 0-1 in A10 play. They are 8-0 at home, 0-2 on the road, and 3-0 at neutral sites.

Schedule: https://gorhody.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Wins: Fairfield (96-58), Holy Cross (91-77), Franklin Pierce (105-73), Lafayette (86-72), College of Charleston (91-53), Detroit Mercy (81-75), UT Arlington (83-78), Yale (84-78), Providence (69-63), Central Connecticut St. (77-69), Temple (85-79)
Losses: Brown (84-80), Duquesne (67-55)

Probable Starters:
6’1” Sebastian Thomas - 17.6 ppg & 4.0 reb - Senior
6’7” David Green - 16.3 ppg & 6.4 reb - Senior
6’3” Jamarques Lawrence - 11.2 ppg - Junior
7’0” Javonte Brown - 10.6 ppg & 6.4 reb - Senior
6’6” Tyonne Farrell - 7.0 ppg - Freshman

Reserves averaging double figure minutes:
6’4” Jaden House - 10.9 ppg - Senior - has 2 starts
6’9” David Fuchs - 6.2 ppg - Sophomore
6’3” Cam Estevez - 4.8 ppg - Sophomore - has 1 start
6’8” Drissa Traore - 3.3 ppg - Junior
6’5” Quintin Diboundje - 2.7 ppg - Senior

Roster: https://gorhody.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster?path=mbball

Team Stats:

Rhode Island averages 85.7 points (1st in the A10) per game while giving up 71.6 (10th in the A10).

The Rams shoot 48.0% from the floor (2nd in the A10) and 36.9% from 3 (1st in the A10).
Opponents are shooting 39.9% from the field and 29.4% from 3.

They shoot 72.0% from the free throw line.

The Rams have out rebounded opponents by 6.5 boards per game and average 12.6 turnovers per contest.

Stats: https://gorhody.com/documents/2024/12/11/2425_Combined.pdf

Thoughts: The Rams didn’t get much preseason respect when they were picked to finish 11th in the league. So far they have one Quad 2 win against Providence. They are 5-1 against Quad 3 opponents and 4-0 against Quad 4 teams. So, make what you want out of their schedule and record to date. Their stats are very impressive.

It’s never easy in the A10. It sure would be nice to get a road win and start off 2-0 in league play.

Discuss.

Hopefully our D will hold them about 25 points below their average.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

How is Duqesne looking this year...

 

[Jack Strop]

How is Duqesne looking this year...

Bloody arrrful.

 

[GMUgemini]

How is Duqesne looking this year...

They were 0-7 at one point…

But are 6-1 since, so they must have been figuring some things out.

Road games are always tough, but I don’t think URI is as good as their record is. I watched their loss to Brown earlier in the year and I think our defense will give them fits. It’ll all be about limiting turnovers and playing for each other on the road on whether we win or not.

 

[Jack Strop]

lt'll all be about limiting turnovers and playing for each other on the road on shreds we win or not.

Wha???

 

[GMUgemini]

Wha???

Auto-correct.

 

[Jack Strop]

Auto-correct.

OK. After all, it is New Year's Eve.

 

[TweederGMU]

URI getting embarrassed by Duq is interesting. Was just an off shooting day??? Or they just not that great.

However, they will come out more focused on this game.

Someone outside of Maddox and Haynes needs to put up some big boy points.

If we can limit turnovers to under 10 I think we can get the win.

 

[MasonFanatic]

Rhody's stingy three-point defense is interesting. We can't count on getting as many clean looks as we got against Davidson. Take care of the ball, control the paint on both ends, and see what else opens up for us.

 

[psyclone]

Rhody's stingy three-point defense is interesting. We can't count on getting as many clean looks as we got against Davidson. Take care of the ball, control the paint on both ends, and see what else opens up for us.

From Kenpom's data, it looks to be a defensive battle (we're 6th nationally in effective fg% defense and URI is 32d), with Mason now a 1 pt underdog.

Both of their losses were their only true road games that they've played (Brown and Duquesne--neither of which are particularly strong teams) and their best home wins were Providence and Yale (top 100), each 6 pt wins. Hopefully our away games vs Marquette and Duke have prepared us better for playing against teams who have significantly stronger home records.

 

[NewPatriot]

Rhody's stingy three-point defense is interesting. We can't count on getting as many clean looks as we got against Davidson. Take care of the ball, control the paint on both ends, and see what else opens up for us.

It's always the about the paint. If Mason can get Javonte Brown in foul trouble the URI will cave.

 

[phoenix-arizona]

They need wins on the road like this to land a spot in the top 4.

 

[psyclone]

Reminder--game is on the USA network at 2. Here's hoping that the Dayton-GW game that precedes it doesn't go long.

 

[JimP]

Reminder--game is on the USA network at 2. Here's hoping that the Dayton-GW game that precedes it doesn't go long.

That seems to happen at least 1 time a year with the USA games. Tough to see OT in that game - never know I guess.

 

[NewPatriot]

I've never been more excited about a Mason team than I am now. This is going to be a special journey and I am going enjoy every step of it.

 

[MasonSAE4]

That seems to happen at least 1 time a year with the USA games. Tough to see OT in that game - never know I guess.

Better chance of a mercy rule than OT

 

[psyclone]

Dayton is a 9 pt (Kenpom) favorite, so not a high probability of OT. But lots of fouls and time-outs (or is it times-out?) could also make it run over.

 

[Old Man]

Dayton is a 9 pt (Kenpom) favorite, so not a high probability of OT. But lots of fouls and time-outs (or is it times-out?) could also make it run over.

Many coaches use the time-outs they have to stop the clock to have several times-out during the game.

Does that help?