Game 28: Dayton (14-0) on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 7:00 PM.

[GMUYoda]

Shooting 62% from FT... 8 of 13

 

[Herndon]

Damn. XJ's gonna be a nice player, and these are the games he'll grow from.

 

[emjayar08]

Did XJ really step out of bounds??!! A replay would've been nice, Stadium!

 

[GMUYoda]

Ugh... I hate that... giving up an offensive rebound off a FT

 

[Patriot8]

This isn’t a feel good loss, it’s a loss, and another loss at home.

 

[GMUYoda]

Well, have to give props tonight... thought this would be a blowout... but this team fought tooth and nail till the end against the #4 team in the country and were in it till the end

 

[GMUgemini]

Ugh... I hate that... giving up an offensive rebound off a FT

That was either a foul or a great play by Landers, though, can't really fault Greene for that one.

Miller had a chance to make it really interesting...couldn't pull off that tough shot.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Great effort tonight. Crowd was amazing. Really enjoyed myself tonight.

Team showed some great fight. Dayton will likely be a NCAA #1 seed. Let’s see if this will carry on to the last 3 games of the regular season. I don’t why but I think it will.

 

[mkaufman1]

Alright well I can get behind a team that plays like that.
They nearly played flawless but Dayton is number 4 for a reason. Another stop, another basket, one less turnover and the game is different.

loss is a loss though

Oh well.

 

[GMUgemini]

This isn’t a feel good loss, it’s a loss, and another loss at home. DP is now 65-68 I believe.

Just wish we could have played with this much energy and intensity for 40 minutes against some much less talented teams.

 

[patriot2000]

I feel like this is kind of a hallmark of a poorly coached team, even if we had won. Being able to get up for vcu and Dayton, but not being able to compete against GW and barely beating SJU on our home floor... Certainly don't seem properly motivated. Say what you will about the players/recruiting, but the talent is there to compete against the best in the league. They just don't seem prepared or motivated to compete with the rest. Maybe I'm reaching, and maybe it's just my unwillingness to blame the kids who are suiting up for Mason, but these kids have shown me something several times this season. But playing up to the competition, and down to the competition, and losing at home repeatedly; that's a culture/coaching issue

 

[JPgmuswim]

Respectable loss, can’t be mad at that. Would have been a great win.

 

[gmutom]

Damn. XJ's gonna be a nice player, and these are the games he'll grow from.

I hope so. I’m a huge Xavier fan, so it was tough to watch him struggle so much (5 points and 3 TOs). He has so much talent and drive, so I’m sure he’ll learn from this.

Overall, I’m content with the performance. Not sure I understand the logic of Miller covering Toppin when we went small, but we were still a few defensive lapses and unforced turnovers from pulling the upset.

PS: I’m happy Jollay lost $300.

 

[GMUgemini]

I feel like this is kind of a hallmark of a poorly coached team, even if we had won. Being able to get up for vcu and Dayton, but not being able to compete against GW and barely beating SJU on our home floor... Certainly don't seem properly motivated. Say what you will about the players/recruiting, but the talent is there to compete against the best in the league. They just don't seem prepared or motivated to compete with the rest. Maybe I'm reaching, and maybe it's just my unwillingness to blame the kids who are suiting up for Mason, but these kids have shown me something several times this season. But playing up to the competition, and down to the competition, and losing at home repeatedly; that's a culture/coaching issue

The one thing I will say is this team still didn't shoot well in this game (3-19 from 3, 8-13 from the FT line, 38.6 overall from the floor) but they were really locked in on defense. If you're not a good shooting team you've got to be locked in on defense for 40 minutes, limit your own turnovers, and find ways to get easy buckets. There's absolutely zero wiggle room with this team. And often this team let their offensive struggles dictate their defensive intensity. They've also shot themselves in the foot with a lot of unforced turnovers (but you can chalk some of those up to freshmen growing pains -- XJ stepping out of bounds down 4, for example).

But you are right, this team has shown something in a few games this season, and hopefully they learn from this game (and others) what it takes to be a winning team. One thing is for sure, XJ needs to develop an outside game, and Greene and Miller need to be more consistent shooters.

 

[GSII]

Pat2000, dayton and vcu had bad games vs mason. Neither played their best vs us. We are young. And not very talented. How many airballs tonight ???

 

[gmubrian]

Valiant effort.

I felt like it all fell apart when green had the steal and even after it became clear his fast break has fizzled, he decided to push it. We never came back after that.

 

[JimP]

Valiant effort.

I felt like it all fell apart when green had the steal and even after it became clear his fast break has fizzled, he decided to push it. We never came back after that.

Felt that was a big play too - obviously hoped he'd at least draw the foul.

 

[Patriot8]

Dumbfounded by those who are seemingly okay with losing as long we pay hard and it’s a close game. That is a losers mentality.

“If you can accept losing, you can’t win”
- Vince Lombardi

 

[JimP]

Dumbfounded by those who are seemingly okay with losing as long we pay hard and it’s a close game. That is a losers mentality.

“If you can accept losing, you can’t win”
- Vince Lombardi

There is this loss, and then there is the most recent loss to GW at home. Big difference.

 

[Patriotsince81]

It was fun to actually see a Mason crowd engaged. Decent effort tonight. I wish we played with the same passion and intensity every night. One of many DP broken promises.