The official NIT thread: Mason vs. Samford

[FlPatriot]

I guess this can go here? Bonnies being shown the door so far in the 2nd half of their NIT game

Clear they’d rather be somewhere else.

 

[Where's the party?]

I really hope the team decides this tournament is worth winning and plays hard. I was so pissed after our last tournament effort (under Paulson) when they came out and started throwing behind the back passes and got rolled by some nobody team that actually cared. I spoke to him about it and he said he benched the two seniors after they f'd around but the team had just decided they didn't want to play in the tournament and nothing he could do changed that. I'm sure the Paulson haters in this group will say "more evidence of Dave's lack of ability" but as you see it in the Bonnies and Georgia Tech games today, it happens. Teams have to want to keep playing, coaches can't force them.

This is a chance for this team to say thanks to all of us that have supported the program over the years.

Play hard a few more games and make us proud.

 

[Falco]

The NCAA selection committee clearly expected the SEC to dominate by awarding bids to 14 of its 16 teams, but in doing so, they may have set the stage for the exact opposite outcome. While there are fewer mid-majors in the tournament, the ones that made it earned their spots by winning their conferences—meaning they’re battle-tested, highly skilled, and more than capable of pulling off upsets. Many of these teams will now face high-major opponents who, despite benefiting from power-conference bias, didn’t truly earn their way into the field. As a result, instead of limiting Cinderella runs, the committee may have inadvertently created even more by giving strong mid-majors the perfect opportunity to expose overrated power-conference teams.

 

[Where's the party?]

The NCAA selection committee clearly expected the SEC to dominate by awarding bids to 14 of its 16 teams, but in doing so, they may have set the stage for the exact opposite outcome. While there are fewer mid-majors in the tournament, the ones that made it earned their spots by winning their conferences—meaning they’re battle-tested, highly skilled, and more than capable of pulling off upsets. Many of these teams will now face high-major opponents who, despite benefiting from power-conference bias, didn’t truly earn their way into the field. As a result, instead of limiting Cinderella runs, the committee may have inadvertently created even more by giving strong mid-majors the perfect opportunity to expose overrated power-conference teams.

From your lips to God's ears

 

[psyclone]

I guess this can go here? Bonnies being shown the door so far in the 2nd half of their NIT game

And Ark St raining 3's on SLU ... 40-28 with 5 min left in first half.

 

[DRK331]

Mason's NIT results over the years:

View attachment 2680

Mason's NIT results over the years

Wiki:

George Mason Patriots men's basketball - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[psyclone]

And Ark St raining 3's on SLU ... 40-28 with 5 min left in first half.

Ark St 10-18 from 3 in first half, ahead 50-37. yet they are bottom 100 in 3 pt % (32%). Will law of averages catch up to them in the second half or are Billikens just not defending well?

 

[jessej]

Ark St 10-18 from 3 in first half, ahead 50-37. yet they are bottom 100 in 3 pt % (32%). Will law of averages catch up to them in the second half or are Billikens just not defending well?

looks like someone said f-it, we may never get here again so let's just play our a--es off

 

[psyclone]

looks like someone said f-it, we may never get here again so let's just play our a--es off

Ark St 10-18 from 3 in first half, ahead 50-37. yet they are bottom 100 in 3 pt % (32%). Will law of averages catch up to them in the second half or are Billikens just not defending well?

Didn't get much better in the second half, as they made 6 more 3's and the Billikens got run out of the gym, losing 103! to 78. A10 goes 0-2 tonight in NIT

 

[Pablo]

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/samford.sidearmsports.com/documents/2025/3/18/33_GMU.pdf

"The Dogs are 4th in the country in forced turnovers per game, averaging 16.31 per game."

 

[GMUgemini]

Didn't get much better in the second half, as they made 6 more 3's and the Billikens got run out of the gym, losing 103! to 78. A10 goes 0-2 tonight in NIT

They looked like they were playing half speed on defense to me. Second half was just Arkansas St. going 5 out and driving on SLU every time. Turnstile defense.

 

[GMU79]

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/samford.sidearmsports.com/documents/2025/3/18/33_GMU.pdf

"The Dogs are 4th in the country in forced turnovers per game, averaging 16.31 per game."

Uh-oh!

 

[DRK331]

Game day!

Beat Samford!

 

[emjayar08]

To provide some grounding or context to Samford's skill level, this Ronald Polite fella had 18pt, 7ast, 4 reb on 6-7 fg, 1-1 3pt. And he was only UNC-Greenboro's 3rd best scorer that day.

If we show up, we should be able to handle them.

 

[psyclone]

To provide some grounding or context to Samford's skill level, this Ronald Polite fella had 18pt, 7ast, 4 reb on 6-7 fg, 1-1 3pt. And he was only UNC-Greenboro's 3rd best scorer that day.

If we show up, we should be able to handle them.

Samford's 2 and 3 pt % defenses are both around bottom 100 in Div 1; effective fg% defense is in the 290s. But their offense stats are good--maybe good because of the turnovers they generate?

 

[jessej]

Clear they’d rather be somewhere else.

Distracted?

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/greater-olean/sections/police-and-fire/articles/sbu-basketball-player-faces-dwi-charge-after-accident

 

[daveshac]

Looks like everyone on the team is out during warmups. Haynes, KD, Zach, BOC, Cap, Darius, Woody .. all look dressed in game shorts & tees.

 

[GMU79]

They looked like they were playing half speed on defense to me. Second half was just Arkansas St. going 5 out and driving on SLU every time. Turnstile defense.

NBA defense.

 

[jessej]

Looks like everyone on the team is out during warmups. Haynes, KD, Zach, BOC, Cap, Darius, Woody .. all look dressed in game shorts & tees.

I was in line behind Woody Newton mother and family. She said he had hurt his knee, but texted back later that he was playing.

 

[DRK331]

Mason up 10-9 in the first half