Larranaga earns no. 400

All you could hear was the chanting of "Larr-a-nag-a" through out the arena Wednesday night as the old coach notched his 400th win. And earned this on the same night as undefeated Memphis head coach John Calipari I might add. It was a less dramatic win with maybe only 4,000 or so fans witnessing it but it was an impressive defensive and rebounding night for the Patriots. Mason out rebounded the Blue Hens 37-29, an area that has been a problem all season. Will Thomas scored 18 of his 24 in the second half. Wow we really could have used a second half like that from him when we previously played these guys on the road. Folarin Campbell continued his impressive play scoring 19 and Louis Birdsong finally grabbed a couple rebounds instead of fouls. The offense was less than stellar but they did not rely on the three-point shot (1 for 9) which was a nice change. To be successful in the CAA tournament I think they have to have an offensive design like what we saw last night, a steady diet of Will in the low post and Folarin driving to the lane. These guys can't rely on Dre Smith and John Vaughan to light it up from behind the arc, because lately they haven't. And on the other hand the team can't rely solely on Will and Folarin shouldering the load on offense for a full 40 minutes. Sure it's happened a lot this season but you can't expect it happen for the duration of the tournament. Depth will be important in Richmond and Mason won't have much success if their bench only produces 4 points.

Side note: Chat with John Vaughan today at 12:30 pm over at ESPN.com.