For the Tribe, Close Losses Becoming a Habit (Recap of George Mason vs Willian & Mary)

Last Saturday afternoon I made the drive three hours south to Williamsburg, Va. with some friends for the George Mason game at the College of William and Mary. (I'd hoped to recap this game a little sooner, but I've tried to make it up by providing some photos this time).

The Tribe have had one of the better seasons in what has been an ugly non-conference showing for the CAA overall. They played a relatively weak non-conference schedule, but they beat pretty much all the teams they were supposed to beat. However, when faced with tougher competition, an unfortunate pattern has repeated itself. At Wake Forest, the Tribe blew a late lead and lost by six. At Richmond, they fell in double overtime. At Purdue, they again fell apart down the stretch and lost by seven. Double-digit losses to Miami of Ohio and Vanderbilt ended more poorly, but both times the Tribe was in the game at least until the second half. As a result, William and Mary were still very much an unknown going into the Mason game.

This was my first visit to Kaplan Arena, an 8,600-seat gym that the Tribe unfortunately rarely fills. On the whole, it was a pleasant experience. The seating bowl and sight lines are underrated. One inconsistency I noted was that the concession stands and restrooms seemed small for so large a venue, but they were sufficient for the 3,506 on hand. The College’s students were still away on winter break, which meant there weren’t many students on hand, and also, apparently meant there was no pep band, and only a token number of cheerleaders.

A friend of mine was able to score us tickets right behind the George Mason bench, which provided a rare glimpse into just how much communications happens during the game, and who the most vocal coaches and players are. I was surprised by how constantly some of Mason’s bench players were yelling to their teammates on the court -- for example, warning them about an open shooter on their blind side.

For once, George Mason got off to a hot start, hitting their first three shots for a 7-0 lead and forcing a quick William and Mary timeout. A Sherrod Wright fast break dunk made it 11-2 before the Tribe found their offense, fueled by back-to-back three pointers from guards Brandon Britt and Marcus Thornton. The two teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, leaving the score at 18-11 Patriots at the 13 minute mark.

From there, the home team began to tighten the game, as junior forward Tim Rusthoven asserted his presence in the paint for back to back buckets, and the visitors turned it over twice, then committed some cheap fouls. Tribe leading scorer Marcus Thornton cut the lead to 18-17 with a pair of free throws, before a Wright layup made it 20-17 at the 9:55 mark.

Mason's offense got back on track as Patrick Holloway picked off a pass under the basket, and lead the break back the other way, spinning around two defenders before passing ahead to Edwards in the corner. Edwards quickly passed back to a driving Johnny Williams for the dunk. The Patriots hit the three-pointers and turned offensive boards into baskets, stretching their lead to 31-23 at the under-4 media timeout.

Out of the timeout, a Thornton three-point play ended the 13-4 Patriots run, and ignited the crowd. Energized, the Tribe forced Mason into several bad shots in a row. More frustrating, especially for Hewitt, were several iffy calls by the officials. First, Wright appeared to be hit in the head and fouled hard on a layup, yet was called for a charge. Second, a Mason put back was waived off for supposed offensive basket interference, even though to my eye (and apparently Hewitt's) the ball hit the rim and deflected away from the rim before it was touched. Third, a Vertrail Vaughns three-pointer was waived off because of a three-second call in the paint (the only one of the game despite plenty of standing around by both teams).

All parties, not just the Mason faithful, became frustrated when the shot clock was inadvertently reset on an emphatic Erik Copes blocked shot, and the referees needed nearly five minutes to find the real shot clock time via video review. Hewitt spent most of the stoppage complaining about the previous calls, especially the interference play and Wright's blow to the head, and continued the conversation at halftime, before heading to the locker room.

Mason was fortunate that the half was almost over, because nothing broke their way over the last few minutes of the first half. The crowd was loud and in to the action, the Tribe were hot, and Mason couldn't get a stop or make a shot themselves, failing to score a field goal for the last 4:38 of the first half. The Patriots managed only a pair of Wright free throws and went to the locker room down 37-33.

During the first half, Mason coach Paul Hewitt began to experiment with a new lineup, placing both point guards (the starter Corey Edwards and his backup Bryon Allen) on the floor at the same time. This is a move that some Mason fans have speculated about for weeks, and it seemed to pay off, as Edwards acted at the distributor on offense, while Allen was able to focus on defense and his ability to run the floor and drive to the basket.

The second half began with the two teams slowly trading baskets for the first six minutes or so, but then Mason began to go on a run, as Wright scored two quick baskets and assisted on a third, giving the Patriots their first lead of the half on a steal and layup. William and Mary quickly called time out with 12:20 to play, trailing 45-43.The Tribe missed two three-point attempts on the ensuing possession, before Bryon Allen made a free throw for Mason, and Brandon Britt hit a layup to cut the Tribe deficit to one.

Edwards pushed the ball quickly up the floor after the made basket, finding freshman sharpshooter Patrick Holloway all alone in the left corner, and Holloway hit on a lightning quick three-pointer before the Tribe defense could get back. Mason had the momentum now, and Jonathan Arledge hit a pair of free throws to stretch the lead to 51-45 Patriots with 10:38 to play.

But the Tribe, and especially Tim Rusthoven, weren't done. Rusthoven found ways to get deep in the paint against the Mason frontcourt, and scored two layups and knocked down an and-one free throw to help cut the deficit to 53-51. Wright, who already had 18 points for the Patriots, countered with a layup, but then made a very bad decision, picking up a dead ball technical foul for taunting.

Marcus Thornton (19 points) made both technical free throws, and then a layup, trying the game at 55-all, and Brandon Britt added one of two from the line to pull the home team back ahead, 56-55. Now was the danger point for the Patriots. Yet again, the momentum was slipping away from them. But Wright stepped up, seemingly fueled by his frustration with his own mistake. The junior scored 10 points in a six minute stretch to finish with a career high 28, and Johnny Williams (9 points) added a huge three-point play.

The Tribe were forced to trade free throws for layups, and the Patriots made 7 of 11 at the line down the stretch. Four straight empty possessions for William and Mary (7-6, 1-1 CAA) provided an insurmountable 68-61 deficit, and Mason held off the Tribe for a 73-66 win. Yet again, the Tribe held a late lead (58-57 with 5:21 to play) before folding down the stretch, giving up a 16-8 closing run to the visitors.

Despite the loss, I was impressed by what I saw from the College. It's hard to believe that Tim Rusthoven (19 points and 11 rebounds) is still only a junior in what feels like his sixth season in the CAA. The 6'9" forward has learned how to use his size and proper positioning down low. Just about every time he was able to post up and get deep enough into the paint, he scored, often drawing a foul as well from Mason's frustrated big men. The legend of "Beasthoven" will continue to grow if he repeats his performance on Saturday.

Three players did all the scoring for the Tribe -- Rusthoven and Thorton with 19 and Britt with 18, but they got little help from their teammates. Fellow starters Matt Rum and Kyle Galliard finished a combined 3-11 from the field, and the bench contributed exactly 2 additional points. The big three put up some very nice numbers, but they're going to need some help from their teammates if William and Mary want to capitalize on a weakened CAA.

As for the visiting Patriots (8-6, 1-1 CAA), each game for the last month or so has brought continued development from Corey Edwards as the starting point guard. Saturday, Edwards (10 points, 5 assists, 1 turnover) was able to keep himself out of foul trouble and play 33 minutes. This development allowed Bryon Allen to slide over and play shooting guard, where he seemed much more comfortable.

Another positive for Mason (besides the obvious -- Wright's continued dominance) was that they didn't let their mistakes snowball this time. Lapses on offense or defense didn't last long enough for the Tribe to pull away. To be fair, the home team had some opportunities, but they didn't have the unbelievable luck that Northeasten had in shooting 64% in the second half against Mason earlier in the week.

Mason's Valiant Comeback Falls Short (Recap of George Mason-VCU CAA Semifinal)

The George Mason-VCU semifinal was the fifty sixth Division I game I had covered live this season.  It perhaps might be the most memorable one from start to finish.  I can probably say beyond a shadow of a doubt that no one expected the first nine minutes of the game.  But given the first nine minutes of the game, I can also say that likely no one expected the last thirty one minutes of the game either.

After Drexel had soundly defeated ODU in the warmup act, the headliner was a matchup between two CAA rivals with a long rivalry.  The Rams had knocked the Patriots out of the CAA Tournament the last two years.  Last year was the most memorable as VCU upset George Mason, the regular season champion, in the semifinals.  It's quite likely that win helped the Rams make the First Four. We all know what happened from there.

Now with a sold out crowd made up mostly of VCU fans, but with a large contingent of Mason fans as well, there was this third act. The Richmond Coliseum was loud.  And to add the cherry on top of an amazing atmosphere, the two best pep bands in the Colonial were taking turns getting their fans in a frenzy.

Mason won the tip, but immediately turned the ball over as Darius Theus stole the ball and hit a layup to put VCU up 2-0. This would become the common theme for the first nine minutes.  Another steal, another layup. 4-0 Rams. Then Troy Daniels buried a three to make it 7-0.  Another steal by Rob Brandenberg leads to his dunk. 9-0.  Burgess with three straight three pointers, the third resulting in him shaking his head down the court.  18-0 VCU.

After Mike Morrison turned the ball over again, which was George Mason's seventh turnover in not even six minutes, Daniels buried another three pointer.  Six minutes gone by, Rams up 21-0.  Timeout, Patriots.

The VCU fans in attendance that had been loud already, were now at the point of reaching all time record decibal levels of noise.  It was deafening.  Those of us that were sitting on press row, we were stunned.  VCU hit all five of their three point attempts.  Mason couldn't even get the ball down the court.

After the timeout, Brandenberg hit one of two free throws to put the Rams up 22-0.  The Patriots finally got their first two points on free throws by Sherrod Wright.  The twenty two point run had ended.  But VCU wasn't quite finished yet.

A Reddic layup was followed by another three pointer by Brandenberg.  Jonathan Arledge finally got Mason's first basket on a dunk. However, Treveon Graham followed with a three pointer for the Rams.  Two Theus free throws made the score 32-4 with a little more than nine minutes left.

That wasn't a misprint.  VCU was leading a twenty four win George Mason team 32-4 after nine minutes of action.  To put that in perspective, I had seen Iona score thirty one straight points against St Peter's exactly seven days before that.  As impressive as that was, this was more impressive. St Peter's was the ninth place team in the MAAC.  George Mason was the third place team in the CAA and basically the same team that made it to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament last season.

Only one word described how I felt sitting in my seat: Surreal.

It looked quite likely that VCU was going to break Georgia State's tournament setting record from Friday night for largest margin of victory in a CAA Tournament game, thirty five points (Georgia State defeated Hofstra 85-50 in the first round of the CAA Tournament that Friday).  The situation was desperate for George Mason and Patriots' coach Paul Hewitt desperately tried hockey line substitution changes to get his team into a groove.  It looked like the story had been set by the first nine minutes.

But someone forgot to tell George Mason that.

The Patriots' comeback started slowly.  Though they still committed a few more turnovers, Mason for the most part was able to get the ball up the court finally and hit some shots.  VCU though kept pace with them for the next six minutes and the lead was still twenty six, 46-20 with five minutes left in the half.

Then the Rams went cold from beyond the arc, missing their last five three point attempts.  This allowed the Patriots, led by Morrison and Arledge, to go on a 12-2 run to end the half.   It was now a "respectable" sixteen point deficit at the half, 48-32.

If George Mason was going to cut the lead further, they had to cut out the turnovers.  They had twelve turnovers in the first half, which led to seventeen points for VCU, which had only one turnover.  Thus the points off turnovers was in favor of the Rams 17-0.

The second half started out with Mason and VCU basically holding serve.  After six minutes, the Rams' lead was fifteen, 55-40.  The Patriots had not helped themselves, committing three more turnovers in that span.

But Hewitt made a change that ultimately helped Mason.  He had Andre Cornelius now lead the point, which brought them needed quickness against VCU.  Cornelius and Morrison combined to score all of Mason's points during their 12-4 run which cut the VCU deficit into half, 59-52 with about seven a half minutes left.  The George Mason fans roared in approval.

The Patriots' cut the lead a little further. After Morrison, who was dominant the last twenty five minutes of the game, hit two free throws, the Rams were now only ahead 64-58 with three minutes left. What had been a twenty eight point lead had whittled down to six. A lot of credit was due to the Patriots' second half defense, which held the Rams to twenty six percent shooting in the second half.

Mason had a chance to cut the lead further, but they missed four consecutive shots over two possessions. They couldn't cut the lead any further.  VCU scored eight of their last ten points on free throws.   The Rams would hold onto a 74-64 win.

Big Shot Burgess led VCU with twenty points, whild Daniels added seventeen.  They combined to shoot nine of seventeen from beyond the arc.  Brandenberg added fourteen points while Juvonte Reddic scored twelve points.  Morrison and Arledge each had doubles for George Mason.  Morrison had twenty points and eleven rebounds while Arledge had ten points and eleve rebounds. Cornelius added fifteen points.

After watching two terrific games in front of a raucous, sold out crowd over eleven thousand people, I was convinced that there would be a great championship game with what I thought was two definite NCAA tournament teams.   I wasn't able to stay for the championship game, because I had to get back to New York.  But I got to see it the next night.  It lived up to the billing.

Missed Free Throws and Heartbreak in Richmond (Recap of Georgia State vs. George Mason CAA Quarterfinal)

In the last game of the first round on Friday night, Georgia State absolutely hammered Hofstra in the largest margin of victory ever in the CAA Tournament.  Having witnessed the carnage in person, I honestly thought the Panthers were just at the beginning of making a serious statement in the CAA Tournament.

During the season, Georgia State had struggled from the free throw line.  But in their first round game vs. Hofstra, they shot twenty of twenty four from the charity stripe, which was much better than their season average of sixty five percent.  Even during the first round post game press conference, Coach Ron Hunter joked about how well they shot their free throws Friday night.

So when they took the court for their quarterfinal game against #3 seed George Mason,  Georgia State was looking to take it to the Patriots, a team they barely lost to in Fairfax, Virginia.  With the large contingent of Mason fans at the Richmond Coliseum, it probably seemed to the Panthers like they were playing in Fairfax again.

The teams played evenly for the first few minutes.  Then Georgia State's half court trap defense started forcing turnovers on George Mason.  The Panthers went on a 13-2 run and went up 22-11 with about nine and half minutes left in the first half.  Georgia State was playing as well as they did against Hofstra.

But Mason would respond.  They chipped away at the lead, scoring in the paint, while holding the Panthers to one of ten from the field over a seven minute span.   After Ryan Pearson hit a layup, the Patriots were only down three 28-25.  But Georgia State hit a tip in and the Panthers went up 30-25 at the half.



One of the best things about watching a tournament game involving George Mason is their absolutely terrific pep band.  Their band leader, the energetic and very cool looking Doc Nix leads them in some terrific numbers.  "Kashmir" is played with a violin lead that Jimmy Page would be proud to hear.  And as much as I am not a Bonjovi fan, the band's version of "Living on a Prayer" is awesome.

At the start of the second half, Georgia State had multiple chances to extend their lead.  But they couldn't take advantage of the free throw line.  In the first ten minutes, Josh Micheaux missed three free throws.  Eric Buckner and James Fields also each missed a free throw during this time.  Their old "achilles heel" as Ron Hunter would later say in the post game news conference had come back to haunt them.

As a result, George Mason inched their way back into the game.  They tied the game at forty. Then, they took the lead, 44-43, for the first time since six minutes into the first half.  The Patriots would eventually extend the lead to six, 52-46 on a resounding dunk by Sherrod Wright with a little less than seven and a half minutes remaining.

But there were storm clouds for the Patriots.   Pearson, the CAA Player of the Year, picked up his fourth foul and Morrison shortly thereafter picked up his fourth.   As a result, Georgia State chipped away and had a chance to tie the game with two free throws with a little under three and a half minutes left.  But Buckner again missed a free throw and the Panthers were still down one, 56-55.

After Andre Cornelius buried a three to extend Mason's lead to four, Buckner again had a chance to cut the lead.  But he missed the first attempt on an one and the bonus free throw attempt.  The lead was still 59-55.
However, Mason's luck was about to change.  Pearson picked up his fifth foul and shortly thereafter, so did Morrison.  The Patriots were without their two starting big men.  All that was left was for Georgia State to capitalize.

The Panthers did, scoring the next four points off of turnovers.  James Fields' steal off of the Patriots' Paris Bennett tied the game at fifty nine with thirty three seconds left.  Mason would get the ball with the shot clock turned off.

Paul Hewitt called timeout with eighteen seconds left in the game.  The ball was inbounded to Byron Allen, a sophomore point guard.  He dribbled around then drove the lane.  Buckner, the best shot blocker in the CAA went to block  Allen's shot.  But Allen went underneath the hoop and Buckner avoided him, trying not to pick up the foul.   Allen put up a reverse layup attempt and the ball bounced high off the glass and in.

Cue crowd eruption.  For some reason, I decided to record the last play and I posted the above video. There was 3.4 seconds left on the clock and in Georgia State's season.

After two timeouts, the Panthers desperation three missed and George Mason had a thrilling 61-59 win.  The Patriots made a perfect sweep for the higher quarterfinal seeds on the day for the CAA Tournament for the second year in a row.

During the post game conference, Coach Hunter could barely speak, tears welled in his eyes.  He was so proud of his team's effort.  He spoke about the missed free throws, their "achilles heel".  The Panthers had eighteen more free throw attempts than the Patriots, but only hit on ten more free throws.

Coach Hunter spoke so intensely about his team's heart, how he never saw a more hungry team in his years of coaching.   He wanted to have his team play one more game, since six of his players are seniors.   You could tell that the Georgia State players and their coach left their heart on the court.

Afterwards, my friend Jerry Beach, aka Defiantly Dutch and I went over and shook hands with Coach Hunter.   He hoped his team would make the CBI or CIT because with twenty one wins they deserved that opportunity.   Coach Hunter was very cordial and even got a laugh when we reminded him about his former IUPUI team beating up on Hofstra in the CBI in 2010.  He said "You remember that?' as if no one would probably remember a game where 953 people showed up.

He said "Thank you for the support", and went off.  After watching his team the last two days and the post game conferences in which he spoke so honestly and passionately, I have a very profound respect for Coach Hunter.  I could see why his team bought into him in his first season of coaching the Panthers.

Part of me wishes his team had one more game to play today.

Mason Nation vs. The Lions' Den - Preview of George Mason vs. Hofstra

Starting in the 2005-06 season, Hofstra and George Mason have had a heated rivalry. OK, it's a really heated rivalry when it comes to Defiantly Dutch and Mason Nation (and no, I haven't read that article at the time of this article's posting yet).  Still, there is a lot of history between the two teams.

In Hofstra's first season in the CAA, the 2001-02 season, the tenth seeded Pride upset the Patriots in the quarterfinal round of the CAA Tournament.   The 2005-06 season saw the Pride defeat the Patriots twice, including the semifinals of the CAA Tournament.  In that semifinal game, there was the infamous Tony Skinn punch to Loren Stokes that ended up on national television.  But George Mason made the NCAA Tournament that season and went onto Final Four fame, while Hofstra was snubbed out with the ultimate punch to the groin.

In the 2006-07 season, the Pride defeated the Patriots at the Patriot Center in the regular season.  But what originally was supposed to be Hofstra's season to win the CAA Tournament ended up in smoke after the Patriots upset the Pride in the CAA Quarterfinals.  It would be the start of a five game winning streak for Mason Nation over the Flying Dutchmen.  The streak ended last season when Hofstra defeated George Mason in the Mack Center.  But the Patriots would gain revenge winning at home later in the season.

So what's going to happen tonight, other than Defiantly Dutch's rants against Mason?  Here's what I think Mason Nation and the Lions' Den Faithful need to watch out for tonight;


Seven Things to Look For in Tonight's Game

1. Points in the Paint - George Mason is averaging 51.7 percent from two point field goal range.  Hofstra's two point field goal percentage defense is 49 percent.  Look for the Patriots to try to exploit that by going to Ryan Pearson 51% FG and Mike Morrison 61% FG percentage, which leads the CAA..  Pride frontcourt players will be challenged tonight. 
2. Where Art Thou Three Pointer? -  George Mason and Hofstra are two of the worst teams in the CAA as far as three pointers per game. George Mason is tenth at 4.6 three pointers per game, while Hofstra is eleventh at 4.3 three pointers per game. Only Northeastern and Towson have made less three pointers than the Patriots and Pride and the Huskies have played two less games.  Now here's the kicker - George Mason and Hofstra are third and fourth respectively in three point field goal percentage.  Simply put, neither team puts up that many shots from beyond the arc.
3. Lots of Blown Whistles and Free Throws - In the Patriots and the Pride, you will be seeing the two teams that attempt the most free throws in the CAA.  Hofstra leads with 513 free throw attempts.  George Mason is second with 484.  Both teams are also first and second in free throws made; Hofstra with 366 and George Mason with 330.  If you're expecting an exact two hour game with end to end action and little stoppage in play, think again.
4. Turnovers -  After being two of the best teams last season as far as not turning the ball over, this season  the Patriots and the Pride are two of the worst teams in the CAA.   Hofstra is eleventh in the CAA with 320 turnovers while George Mason is ninth with 305.  
5. Fear the Beard - Ryan Pearson has been dominant this season and is right now the favorite for CAA player of the year.  In five career games against Hofstra, Pearson has averaged 18.6 points, 7 rebounds and has shot 28 of 54 from the field.  
6. The Pride on the Offensive Glass -  Surprisingly, George Mason is one of the worst teams in the CAA in defensive rebound percentage, as they are eleventh at .650.  That means thirty five percent of the time, the offensive team gets a rebound on the Patriots.  Hofstra has the fourth most offensive rebounds in the CAA at 241.  It could be a very good night for Stephen Nwaukoni and Nathaniel Lester.
7. The Students Are Back - The Mack Center has been awfully quiet in January as classes have not been in session.  But Hofstra undergraduates start their Spring Semester classes today. What will that mean for the student section at the game tonight?  The Pride could use a packed Lions' Den for support tonight.