George Mason dismantles Georgia State in 2nd half to advance to CAA semifinals

The George Mason basketball team is starting to become a broken record, and one that fans are certainly not getting tired of. The nation's longest winning streak is now at 16 and the Patriots have advanced to the CAA semifinals. Once again we saw an opposing team start off strong and the Patriots look a little sloppy.  At half time Mason was up 3 after being down by as many as 11.  And yes once again the Patriots went on a huge run to break the spirits of the team they were facing. The team's overall balance was too much for GSU to overcome. 

After Mason was down 11 in the 1st half they exploded for a 42-9 run that eventually led to a 68-45 victory. The run included Ryan Pearson getting to the line, Vertrail Vaughns hitting shots, and Isaiah Tate throwing behind the back passes. The Panthers just could not keep up with the Patriots for 40 minutes as they didn't have nearly as much firepower on offense.  Mason just had too many scorers, Ryan Pearson had a relatively tame game and they didn't miss a beat.  And after allowing GSU to shoot 60% in the 1st half the Patriots locked down on defense and held them to just 21% in the 2nd. Mason had 27 points off the Panthers' 21 turnovers and 12 fast break points to pull away in the 2nd half.  

George Mason will face VCU tomorrow at noon.

NCAA Basketball Stats