How George Mason can beat Ohio State

This game is a bit personal to me on another level, my brother is an OSU grad. Naturally sibling rivalry wants me to see George Mason crush Ohio State but I'm trying to not let it distort my reality on the game. Mason didn't get the best draw on Selection Sunday, they may have been paired with a Big East team on a serious losing streak but they are also in the same region as the #1 overall seed in Ohio State.  If you have watched any college basketball this season you're probably familiar with All-American forward Jared Sullinger , who is one of the best players in the country right now.  Outside of Sullinger inside you have to deal with the perimeter shooting of Jon Diebler and William Buford, the slashing penetration skills of David Lighty, and Aaron Craft at the point making it all happen.  Like Mason they are balanced and can beat you in a number of different ways.  

I don't think it's a surprise to anyone to say that Mason needs to play a lot better overall then they did against Villanova in order to win this game.  If they give up that many open looks from behind the arc the Buckeyes will bury them early and I don't think they will be able to mount a 2nd half comeback.  Ryan Pearson was pretty much shout out by the Villanova front court and as a result got into early foul trouble making him a non-factor.  The Patriots can't let that happen again.

So with all that being said, just how can George Mason defeat Ohio State on Sunday? Here are the keys to the game for the Patriots:

Guard the perimeter. Ohio State is #2 in the nation on 3-point shooting percentage. Jon Diebler is a big reason for this.  Mason will have to make a better effort to prevent their opportunities from behind th arc in order to stay in this game. Villanova had too many early looks and made Mason pay early, imagine that times 10 against Ohio State.

Get them into foul trouble, especially Jared Sullinger. Sounds easy right? Actually the Buckeyes are the #1 in the nation in personal fouls per game according to teamrankings.com and this could an area the Patriots attack. Overall they need to frustrate Sullinger and not give him easy baskets. Luke Hancock and Ryan Pearson got to the line a lot against Villanova and they need to do it again against these guys.  Ohio State coach Thad Matta has a short rotation and guys like Sullinger logging a lot of minutes on the bench would thwart their finely tuned offense.  Don't discount Larranaga's game management skills here.

Three-point shooting. You didn't see the Mason light it up from behind the three-point line against Villanova but they will need to against Ohio State. To defeat a team that is much more talented than you are you have to make outside shots to open things up in other areas.  The Patriots inability to make these shots really hurt their inside game against the Wildcats. It was obvious even on the last three-pointer by Luke Hancock that they didn't respect the Patriots outside game when he was left wide open.  Vertrail Vaughns was held scoreless against 'Nova but hopefully that is not the case Sunday.