Game 19: GMU (13-5 / 2-3) vs St. Bonaventure (11-5 / 2-2) on Saturday, January 20, at 2:00 PM.

[MasonFanatic]

Hopefully they used up all their offense last night.

 

[GMUgemini]

Hopefully they used up all their offense last night.

Well, if you let Banks and Pride shoot open 3s be ready to give up a lot of points.

 

[Old Man]

I don't suppose anyone has an extra Gold Room pass available for the St. Bonnie's game? TIA

 

[DRK331]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1748106598969463043

 

[tblack33]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1748106598969463043

The freebies really suck this year.

 

[GMU79]

Hey now! I still wear my quill branded Mason socks they gave us like 5 years ago? for donating (actually got complimented on them last year when I did a reading, beautiful green contrast to my maroon/purple pants. It was glorious)!!!

Kinda sucks that after years of donating, my grand haul is a 3"×3" mouse pad, a microscopic fridge magnet, and a cheap Be A Patriot bumper sticker.
A tee, mug, something would be nice. Maybe inspire me to give a bit more.

 

[GMUgemini]

By the way, my prediction on this game is the same as the last game: we will either get blown out or win by 1-2 possessions tops. We will probably know within the first 15 minutes which way it’s going to go.

 

[psyclone]

Kinda sucks that after years of donating, my grand haul is a 3"×3" mouse pad, a microscopic fridge magnet, and a cheap Be A Patriot bumper sticker.
A tee, mug, something would be nice. Maybe inspire me to give a bit more.

If you actually went to games you should have bobbleheads galore and pint glasses with mascots & former players on them.

 

[GMU79]

If you actually went to games you should have bobbleheads galore and pint glasses with mascots & former players on them.

If you knew my situation you wouldn't be saying that.
But I am very glad that you can attend.
Enjoy.

 

[Mason2006Patriot]

The freebies really suck this year.

I'm grateful they even give us free stuff. I have no complaints about the socks, I think they're awesome

 

[psyclone]

If you knew my situation you wouldn't be saying that.
But I am very glad that you can attend.
Enjoy.

I apologize for what turns out to be a rather gratuitous insult. You're right...I don't know your circumstances. Indeed, I'm very grateful that I can attend the games....even way beyond the modest "freebies"!

 

[GMU79]

I'm grateful they even give us free stuff. I have no complaints about the socks, I think they're awesome

I agree!

 

[GMU79]

I apologize for what turns out to be a rather gratuitous insult. You're right...I don't know your circumstances. Indeed, I'm very grateful that I can attend the games....even way beyond the modest "freebies".

No problem! We're good, my friend!

 

[Pablo]

Patriots Host Bonnies Saturday in EBA - George Mason University Athletics

The George Mason University men's basketball team (13-5, 2-3) hosts St. Bonaventure (11-5, 2-2) for a top-100 matchup Saturday in Fairfax.

gomason.com

"PATRIOT POINTS
• The Patriots check in at 85th in Friday's NET rankings, while St. Bonaventure is No. 75.

• Mason is 9-1 at home this season and has won 23 of its past 26 games played inside EagleBank Arena.

• The Green & Gold will look to break a three-game losing skid against the Bonnies. Most recently, Mason dug itself an 18-point hole on the road en route to a 75-62 setback at George Washington on Monday in Foggy Bottom.

• The Patriots shot a season-low 32.8 percent against the Revs, including a 7-for-31 (.226) mark in the opening half.

• Sophomore Keyshawn Hall led Mason with team highs in points (19) and rebounds (9) Monday. He ranks eighth in the A-10 in scoring (18.0 ppg) in league games.

• Graduate forward Amari Kelly added 14 points (2-4 3pt FG), five rebounds, a season-high three steals and two blocks. He's scored 10+ points in seven-straight games.

• The Patriots are averaging 78.5 points and shooting 49.4 percent (.377 3pt FG) in wins, but just 59.4 points and 38.2 percent in losses (.282 3pt FG).

• Hall ranks fifth nationally in defensive rebounds/game (8.1), 17th in double-doubles (8) and 39th in overall rebounding (9.3 rpg). He leads the A-10 in all three of those categories.

• The Patriots feature one of the most potent defenses in the country. Mason ranks seventh nationally in 2pt FG defense (.427), 13th in overall FG defense (.389) and 53rd in scoring defense (66.1 ppg). The Patriots allow 1.012 points/possession (83rd).

• Mason's offense proved highly efficient during its 11-2 non-conference slate, but the Patriots have struggled in A-10 play. The team is 13th in the league in effective field goal percentage in conference games and 12th in 3pt FG percentage (.295). Mason shot 37 percent from 3 in non-conference play.

• The Patriots have yet to allow an opponent to shoot 50 percent from the floor over 18 games. That's the longest stretch for a Mason team to begin a season since 2011-12.

• In league games, George Mason leads the A-10 in free throw percentage (.813), while the Bonnies rank second (.800).

• Senior Ronald Polite III ranks 10th in the A-10 in assists through four conference contests (3.6/game). He is sporting a solid 2.3 assist/turnover ratio in those contests."

 

[Pablo]

Bonnies Start Road Swing With Trip To George Mason - St. Bonaventure

St. Bonaventure heads back to Virginia for its third game this month in the Commonwealth after splitting a week-long trip in Richmond to start Atlantic 10 play.

gobonnies.com

"OPENING TIP

• St. Bonaventure heads back to Virginia for its third game this month in the Commonwealth after splitting a week-long trip in Richmond to start Atlantic 10 play.
• Bona is fresh off handing Rhode Island its first A-10 loss as the Bonnies tallied their most points in regulation vs. an A-10 opponent in over four decades as they dominated the Rams, 99-64. The last time St. Bonaventure topped that offensive output in regulation vs. an A-10 foe: Jan. 5, 1981 in a 104-80 win vs. UMass.
• SBU produced a 9-3 non-conference record, the best for the program since going 10-2 in 2017-18 en route to an NCAA Tournament bid that year.
• The Bonnies have produced a winning Atlantic 10 record in eight of the past nine years, averaging over 11 A-10 wins per year since 2014-15.
• Chad Venning is on this week's Atlantic 10 Weekly Honor Roll after posting 22 points and seven rebounds Saturday vs. Fordham. He went 8-for-14 from the floor and 6-for-7 at the foul line and his 22 points came just one point shy of his career-high of 23. He remained hot in Wednesday's win, finishing with 15 points (7-12 FG) and a career-high six blocks. In four A-10 games thus far, he's posting 17.3 ppg and 6.0 rpg.
• Charles Pride scored a season-high 25 points in Wednesday's win over Rhode Island, his best scoring effort since a 21-point game in the season-opening win vs. Longwood. He had 23 games of 20 or more points scored during his four seasons at Bryant. This season, he ranks second among all A-10 players in 3-point percentage (48.4%).
• Pride has just six turnovers in over 416 minutes of game time, ranking sixth nationally in turnover rate. Mika Adams-Woods also has 59 assists against 22 turnovers.
• Bona scored 29 points off 20 Rhode Island turnovers on Wednesday, the most points off turnovers in a game for SBU since totaling 28 in a triple OT game vs. Davidson in 2018.
• Daryl Banks III came off the bench for the first time in his Bona career Wednesday vs. URI and responded with perhaps his best game of the year as he went for 14 points (5-8 FG) and a career-high seven assists.
• Wednesday's win represented Bona head coach Mark Schmidt's 375 career head coaching victory and his 293rd at St. Bonaventure.
• The Bonnies enter the weekend with the following national rankings in shooting percentages: free throw %: 8th (78.2%), 3-point %: 32nd (37.8%), field goal %: 58th (47.3%).

TRENDING NUMBERS
3 – The Bonnies are doing well both in shooting from beyond the arc as well as limiting opponents from deep. Bona ranks third among A-10 squads in three-point percentage at 37.8% while holding opponents to 30.6% in their long range attempts. For three-point percentage defense, only Richmond has been better at limiting teams in 3-point tries (29.6%).
4 – Assa Essamvous finished with four points vs. Rhode Island Wednesday, but contributed in other ways as he tallied a career-high four steals along with nine rebounds.
6.9 – Charles Pride is averaging 6.9 rebounds per game, ranking 10th among all A-10 players this year.
10.8 – Bona is averaging 10.8 turnovers per game, which stands 60th in the country out of 362 Division I teams for fewest miscues per contest.
17 – Chad Venning has at least one block in 17 straight games dating back to last year. He also has at least one swat in 25 of the last 26 contests. He had a career-high six blocks Jan. 17 vs. Rhode Island, the most by a Bonnies player since Osun Osunniyi's seven vs. Siena in November 2021.
20 – Bona forced 20 Rhode Island turnovers in the win Jan. 17, the most turnovers produced by the Bonnies defense since forcing 25 vs. South Dakota State in November 2022.
22 – Bona's bench has been extremely productive so far this season. The Bonnies are averaging 22 bench points per game, a drastic increase over last year's 11.8 bench points per game and 5.8 in 2021-22. To put it in perspective, in 33 games during the 2021-22 season when the Bonnies reached the NIT semifinals, they registered 190 bench points for the entire year. This year, the team had 265 bench points through just 13 games.
37.8% – The Bonnies rank 32nd nationally this season with their 37.2% success rate on 3-point shooting.
78.2% – St. Bonaventure ranks eighth nationally so far this year in free throw percentage at 78.2% on the season, including going 20-for-22 last Saturday vs. Fordham. Daryl Banks III is best on the team, sinking 89% of his tries at the line (31-35).
80 – Moses Flowers joined the starting lineup for the first time this year Jan. 17 vs. Rhode Island, but being in the starting five is hardly anything new for the fifth-year guard. He started the last 11 games of last season and his first start this year was the 80th of his career as he started 66 of 69 games in three seasons at Hartford.
99 – St. Bonaventure's offense produced 99 points in a 99-64 win over Rhode Island, which entered the day 3-0 in the A-10, on Jan. 17 at home. It was Bona's highest scoring game in regulation vs. an Atlantic 10 opponent since Jan. 5, 1981 in a 104-80 win vs. UMass and the most points for Bona in any regulation game since scoring a 102-71 win over Central Michigan Nov. 22, 2016. The Bonnies have now tallied 90 or more points four times this season, the most since hitting that total four times as well in 2016-17."

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Be nice if we can get Ball shooting like this in some of these games…

 

[DRK331]

Mason up 33-27 at the half

 

[Yossarian]

Tough to see a much more commanding lead get whittled away before the halftime buzzer.

 

[jessej]

This is the largest attended game that I have been at all season.

ESPN.Com has attendance of 4614

 

[FlPatriot]

Kelly should sit for a bit.