George Mason Basketball: George Mason suffers bad loss at Delaware

Thursday, February 02, 2012

George Mason suffers bad loss at Delaware

Photo by John Powell

George Mason stumbled at Delaware last night and fell 65-60. The writing was on the wall and last week I even mentioned that the Patriots were going to get upset by a lesser team if they continued to play like this. They came out sluggish in this one and couldn't get themselves out of the hole they dug early on. Quite frankly Mason just could not shoot last night. They shot 33% on the night and went 1-for-10 in the second half on three-pointers trying to mount a late comeback. The real surprising stat however was the turnover battle which Mason didn't lose for a change: George Mason 8, Delaware 21. It amazes me how they lost this game even with poor shooting with the Blue Hens coughing up the ball that much. Mason's offense was so flat in the second half it made a comeback impossible and this isn't the first time we have seen the offense grind to a halt in the second half of a game this season. Mike Morrison and Ryan Pearson were literally the team's only offense and the starting backcourt struggled to produce any points. Bryon Allen, Vertrail Vaughns, and Andre Cornelius were a combined 2-for-18 from the field and 0-for-5 from behind the three-point line.

View some of the ugliness here from Delaware's athletic site:

The loss creates a log jam in the CAA standings with three times tied for first. With a home game against ODU this Saturday and two meetings with VCU it's not time to be jumping ship on this team just yet. However the problem areas on offense still need to be addressed or this team isn't going to anywhere this March.

NCAA Basketball Stats

NCAA Basketball

Labels: Post Game Recaps

17 Comments:

GMUSSTN said...: This team needed to lose a game like this to teach them a lesson. It was bound to happen eventually; maybe now they'll get the message that they need to step up and play to their potential, every night, regardless of the opponent. Litos has been saying for weeks now that Mason's been "sleepwalking" through games; hopefully after last night they'll wake up.; 9:13 AM
gmuhoops said...: I have to agree with this, maybe this is just the wake-up call they need before the VCU games coming up. Can only hope it motivates them.; 9:17 AM
GMUdad said...: Most telling stat was Pearson taking 8 three-pointers (equal to all other 3-pt attempts). The zone continues to hurt them every game.; 9:36 AM
Matt said...: I guess maybe the only silver lining is that it could light a fire heading into the tough part of the schedule. Irratic guard play continues to strangle our ability to balance scoring and keep Mike and Ryan more open. I also thought we swung the ball around the zone but did make any logical moves to penatrate it. Hens shot well but defensively there were too many times a player got the ball and 3 or 4 Mason players swarmed to him-I didn't realize we feared/respected this team so much! It led to lots of open looks. Dammit, dumb loss!; 10:56 AM
commboy said...: Does anyone have a theory why ACorn and VV seem to regress on their ability to shoot compare to last year? Is it because now other teams are putting more effort defending them (with Cam and Luke are no longer taking spotlight)? Losing mental confidence? Changing offense scheme?; 11:20 AM
Rmjank said...: I was thinking the same thing: no Cam or Luke to take the focus away from Acorn and VV. Now those guys are the focus. VV is now taking a lot of pull up J's from inside the arc and missing badly. Acorn's form seems ok (to my amateur eyes), but he's just not getting enough looks and when he does they are not falling. Allen last night missed on (seemingly) all his drive-down-the-lane shots. Wright, I don't know, sometimes it seems like a game goes by without his name being called. If one of these guys would just step up, we'd be collectively in better shape.; 11:42 AM
Charlie T said...: Not that it does not matter but it is more important how they react then we do. They have won ugly now they have lost ugly so right now its time to start to look pretty win or lose. Ever since Delaware left the court when they played us at home I worried about this game. Sure I worry about every game but for some reason this one bothered me. Now it really becomes the property of the Coaches to insure no one points fingers and they react in a positive way. The hard word to say to anyone who has ever played the game is that you are "SOFT". The opposite of that is hard and mean. Right now forget this game(I know it will be hard for certain people on this site) and start to play like every game is a tournament game and yes play hard and mean.; 11:49 AM
Rmjank said...: I hear the wake up call arguments, but with our recent near miss -- close games with weak opponents, shouldn't that call have already arrived? Still seeing no interest in rebounds, especially on the offensive end last night. And the one guy who seemed to have some drive out there, seemed to get a lot of bench time during the midsection of the game, and not because of foul trouble. Even the Hen announcers were surprised about that.
I will say, there were a few times our guards made good drives and shots inside, but Delaware was all over that with the blocks -- hats off to them, and that has to be demoralizing for a player who thinks he just froze the defense with his moves, but still it looks like we expect these teams to be in awe of us and just lie down and let us win.
I trust things will change Saturday, or else we will be asking ourselves if the blowout loss is a wakeup call.; 11:53 AM
Rmjank said...: The one guy with "some drive" being Mike Mo.; 11:54 AM
Moses said...: Good loss.; 1:18 PM
Chris said...: Both of their forms look good and Cornelius is shooting around the same as he did last season. However, I think Vaughns has a little too much confidence and not enough shot selection. Obviously his role has increased in the offense, but he has taken several contested and/or off-balance threes this season. I think for him it's just an issue of playing smarter.; 2:02 PM
Good said...: we shot balls to fast and not many passes to find good chance for them to shoot. We did not play much inside-out as coach L's time.; 4:05 PM
gmubball said...: Seems like when we are behind, the guys seem to try to do two much on their own. Unfortunately, the guy that is sometimes most guilty is Ryan who is leads by example (I know, he is supposed to "step up", but zero passes first?) - the other worst offenders are VV who forces 3s and Wright who sometimes drives and/or shoots every time he touches the ball. Maybe it is a problem when we are ahead too, but I don't care when they are making the shots and we win. I think we all agree the lack of passion in some games is a real issue, so since we beat ODU on the road, maybe it is not a problem in the big games. Guess we will find out on Saturday.; 5:20 PM
commboy said...: Thanks to those responded...; 6:05 PM
Vagthree said...: K.Anderson was killing Vaughns,AC and Allen in the first half until they put Gray on Anderson.....with Gray and Wright on the court we have more size and Edwards must be given the pt. guard spot because Allen isn't a pt. guard. We don't stand a chance with this starting line up and on the horizon is Drexel and VCU(twice) and they're playing on all cylinders and now is the time for coach H to put the best team on the floor that gives us a chance to compete on a high level down the stretch because the current starting line up will not get it done. This is still the best team in the CAA but the wrong mix of players on the floor is making a good team look average....average won't cut it at GMU; 9:26 PM
Moses said...: Maybe this question can be shifted to a pre ODU post by Ryan:
What's the best combo/line up?

I say,

2- Allen (as much as I like him he is a slasher scorer more than a pure point and gives teams more to defend off the ball)
1- Edwards if he develops at 1, we're good...with Allen on the floor with him they can protect the ball
5- Mo 5 high post
4- RP on the blocks,
3? Arledge/Copes for size, AC/Gray/Wright for quckness/back court matchups

But nothing works if this team doesn't prioritize defense and rebounding.; 8:37 AM
GMURULES said...: I would say AC more than Edwards due to defense and being a senior, though Edwards should get some significant time.; 9:52 AM

George Mason suffers bad loss at Delaware

George Mason Basketball

Thursday, February 02, 2012

George Mason suffers bad loss at Delaware

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