George Mason back in action against Bucknell

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving, now let's get back to more George Mason basketball.  The Patriots host Bucknell tomorrow night (TV: MASN), who are winners of their last five games.  This Bucknell team presents a different type of challenge, as their leading scorer is Mike Muscala, a 6'11" 234 lb center.  To date this season Mason really hasn't faced a legit threat in the front court and Muscala's ability to get to the free-throw line could thwart the Patriots uptempo offense if they don't stay disciplined on defense. This isn't to say that Bucknell is an inside team, guard Bryson Johnson, second on the team in scoring, has gone 15-for-27 from the three-point line in their last two games. The Bison protect the ball pretty well and shoot 42.1% from behind the arch. Where the Patriots have the edge is rebounding and getting to the free-throw line at an effective rate.  Despite Muscala in the middle Bucknell doesn't rebound that well as a whole and Mason should be able to feast on second chance points like they did against Albany and Brown.

-Mike Morrison is coming off his most productive game of the season (13 points, 9 rebounds) against Albany and they will need more of this from him.  He doesn't need to score double figures every night but they need him getting boards on both ends.

-Will Paris Bennett make his season debut?  The team still could use some discipline on both ends of the court and a guy like Paris could help remedy a few of the problems we have been seeing. A steal here, a rebound there, a tipped pass are just some of things a strong utility player off the bench can bring that keeps everything together.

-#FearTheBeard watch: The current season stat line for Ryan Pearson is 21.3 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 1.6 SPG, and 59.3% from the field.

-Will Corey Edwards get the nod again at starting point guard? Edwards and Allen have been playing about the same amount of minutes but to me Edwards seem to stand out a bit more dishing out the ball.  Allen is probably a better scorer and can get to the basket with ease but he doesn't seem to be a pass-first guy where Edwards is.  

-When will Vertrail Vaughns settle down?  Vaughns' streaky play continued against Albany as he went 0-for-5 from behind the arch.  He represents pretty much all of the team's three-point shooting so they can't really afford to have him going scoreless again.  

Note: click the link on the top right sidebar titled '2011-2012 season stats' for George Mason team stats updated daily.