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Previewing George Mason at Northeastern

George Mason Basketball: Previewing George Mason at Northeastern

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Previewing George Mason at Northeastern

TV: ESPN3.com or watch free live stream here

The ever important rematch against VCU is set for this Saturday but the Patriots travel to Boston to take on Northeastern first tonight.  Mason is riding a five game winning streak while the Huskies are 1-5 in their last six games with the lone win coming over Towson.  They don't play the best defense in the CAA but are a fairly good shooting team and are capable of knocking down threes in bunches.  In their last game against Stony Brook last weekend they went 10-for-17 from behind the arch.  Mason has only won once out of four recent visits to the Matthews Arena and can't afford to stumble now while trying to stay hot before the CAA tournament.  

Guarding the perimeter is a must, and keeping junior guard Joel Smith from getting hot should be a priority.  The Patriots will have an easy time working the ball inside the paint and getting to the free-throw line.  The Huskies are sending opposing teams to the line more often than not and Mason will take advantage of this.  We don't want to see the Patriots take their foot off the gas pedal and want them to keep the momentum going from their recent strong play.  Ryan Pearson and Sherrod Wright should again lead the way on offense while the team will hopefully have another night where they keep their opponent under 40% shooting.  On the year the Patriots are holding their opponents to 38.8% from the field, which is good for 19th best in the nation.  Defense wins games at this time of the year and that is area we definitely want to see Mason continue to excel on.

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13 Comments:

Anonymous Christopher Hirsch said...

Nervous about this one.

CAA schedulers didn't know it at the time but they did a great job with the final day of the season on Saturday. Us vs. VCU, and Drexel vs. ODU is a great way to close the season.

10:06 AM  
Anonymous StopWearingPurple said...

I saw the Larranaga led Miami Hurricanes at Maryland last night.  The team looked well coached compared to the Terps who twice came out of a timeout and were still confused.  I wish they could have held on to the lead an pulled out a win. 

Also, the MD students were MIA and the fans were pretty miserable.  I left with an even greater appreciation for the Patriot Center, the energy Doc Nix brings to the event and the fans who cheered GMU when their lead to Lamar was slipping.

/end thread jack

11:10 AM  
Anonymous Charlie T said...

Every game we play now is a tournament game. At least that should be the thought process. You said it about Northeastern and that is they shoot well. They need 10 to 15 Three's and play some defense and they are in most any game. We also have to rebound well so there is no second chances. Someone said to me perhaps we should post in the locker room comments to the effect that we not only do not belong in the NCAA tournament but we are a rather weak team. All I want and I will keep saying it "Break the will to resist" Everything else will fall in place.

2:49 PM  
Anonymous GMURULES said...

SWP,

Good to hear about the appreciation for the Pat center.

3:00 PM  
Anonymous GMURULES said...

SWP,

I say good to hear about the appreciation for Pat center because I don't always appreciate our fans in that I want the student section "sold" out every game.  Good to see MD is not all that great!

3:09 PM  
Anonymous Rmjank said...

These exact matchups might well be repeated in the semifinals of the tournament.

5:03 PM  
Anonymous Honolulu Jeff said...

Unreal.  Can't cope with this let down. Our only hope is to win the tourney now.

9:32 PM  
Anonymous mooky_l3d said...

The only hope has always been to win the tournament.  Unless you meant for the auto bid to the NIT for conference champ.  

9:57 PM  
Anonymous Nschulz1 said...

its really sad that we cannot close games out. Instead we like to make things reall interesting. Mason plays down to there opponents and it really bugs me and it doesn't bug paul because I see him on the sidelines laughing. If larranaga was still here he would not let this team turn the ball over so many times. Its really bad. Seriously Over 16 turnovers tonight, thats like watching Youth basketball 8th graders. 

9:58 PM  
Anonymous NoDoubt! said...

Agree, break the will:

Poise. Poise. Poise. Poise

9:59 PM  
Anonymous Bill Bride said...

Terp fan checking in. The students are getting crushed over on the Inside MD Sports message board. Sure, they lost by 27 the game before at UVA but there's no excuse to stay away. Turge has them scrapping for every win. I take pics for Inside MD Sports web site and this team has been fun to watch all year. That said, I've been to three GMU games this year with my 6 year old son and liked the energy I see in Patriot Center. Love that the Patriot Center is a short drive away so I support the Patriots when I can. Enjoy what you have there.

10:26 PM  
Anonymous Patriot74 said...

Hewitt was laughing? Man I was crying at the final score. This loss hurts just as bad as the Delaware loss, but at least Delware is undefeated in February so far. Northeastern is a sad team and we made them look good. Its either: NIT,CBI, or CIT time unless we win the Tourney.

10:57 PM  
Anonymous vcusucks said...

So looks like its win the CAA tournament, or the seasons over. Win last night would have locked up NIT. Just hope we are finally above those pay for play crap exhibitions. 

12:07 PM  

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