Previewing the regular season finale at VCU

TV: ESPN2, 6 p.m.

The Patriots finish up the regular season in Richmond against VCU, where they will be headed right back to in a week for the CAA tournament.  The loss to Northeastern on Wednesday night prevented Mason from any chance of getting the #1 seed in the tournament and now the winner of tomorrow night's game will determine the #2 and #3 seeds. Keep in mind that the #2 and #3 seeds can meet in the semifinals if both win their games on Saturday during the tournament, so it's very likely the Patriots will yet again face VCU in the semis. 

Mason played of their better games of the season against VCU and you have to think they will be "up" for this one after coming off an embarrassing loss to Northeastern on the road. Last season they stunned the Rams at the Siegel Center with a 71-51 win but then got manhandled by them in the conference tournament a few weeks later. The situation of seeing them again in the CAA tournament is very likely and at least this year we will have more tape on the teams against each other. The result of the game might not mean that much considering they will most likely need to beat them again in a week but a win would certainly give them some much needed confidence heading into the conference tournament.  

To win on the road against VCU the Patriots will need to do what they did in Fairfax last week plus a little more.  The Rams still forced a lot of turnovers but Mason didn't let them go on any sort of run.  Ryan Pearson did a great job on the boards and they will really need that again.  Mike Morrison wasn't much of a factor and that is something they just can't afford on the road.  The one positive from that Northeastern game was how Morrison looked assertive in the paint, let's hope he's pumped up for this one.  

With that said here are the keys to the game for George Mason:

Keep the turnovers to around 10-13:  I don't think Mason can win turning over the ball 16 times again against the Rams. They got away with it at home but on the road in a packed house against the thieving Rams defense is a totally different story.  There were some awful turnovers, a lot by Bryon Allen, on Wednesday night and it will be interesting to see if Corey Edwards handles the ball a bit more in this one.  Allen's been getting more minutes at the point but he and Edwards both have questionable decision making late in games.  The Rams will attack this and how the Patriots respond could be the difference in the game.  Getting the ball out of their hands quickly and into the post or to shooters on the wing should a focus for them.

Win the battle at the free-throw line: The Patriots definitely lost this battle on Wednesday night and let dumb, ticky-tack fouls prevent them from getting into any sort of rhythm on offense.  Usually they are better than that and make their opponents pay for sending them to the free-throw line.  They didn't do enough of this against VCU last week. Sherrod Wright and Ryan Pearson only combined for seven FT attempts in that game and they need to get there more to slow down the momentum the Rams can get while playing at home.   With Paris Bennett playing more recently, the Patriots have a deeper bench and getting the Rams into foul trouble could be a huge advantage for Mason in this one.

Get Sherrod Wright involved early: The Huskies provided VCU with a great blueprint for slowing down Ryan Pearson. They frustrated Mason all game long and the Rams are even more capable of doing this.  Pearson often gets off to slow starts early in road games and Mason needs to make sure other players are getting involved.  Too often this year Sherrod Wright hasn't gotten going til the second half, especially when Pearson is getting a lot of attention.  Andre Cornelius has not been much of a factor on offense recently and Vertrail Vaughns has been a streaky shooter all year.  They need to run plays, set screens, and do whatever they need to get Sherrod Wright more looks.  This is going to Mason's toughest road game of the season, and the Rams have a way of forcing a team out of their usual flow, making Wright's impact even more important for the Patriots.

College Basketball

[Photo by John Powell]