George Mason comes up short in South Florida

The Patriots fell short against South Florida in their final non-conference game. A scary collision that resulted in a South Florida player having to be carried out in a stretcher delayed the game for awhile in the second half. Mason struggled to make shots in the first half and couldn't dig themselves out that hole in the second. Sherrod Wright had his fourth straight 20-point game but no one else scored more than seven points. The team has been struggling to find a second scorer to complement Wright all year long and it killed them in this one. When this team doesn't hit a lot of three-pointers their offense usually looks flat. Even when they were trying to mount a late comeback, they sent the Bulls to the free-throw line and it was all she wrote. The same problems are there and not much has been improved upon. 

The lack of front court production is something that is really holding them back. Erik Copes has been the only all around consistent guy there and he isn't much of an offensive weapon. Johnny Williams runs hot and cold, as does Jon Arledge and it hurts the rotation. All of the forwards continue to poorly handle the ball and it leads to a lot of sloppy possessions. As it stands now they area one-dimensional team and have been living and dying by the three-pointer. Not a great formula for success, no matter how well Sherrod Wright is playing.

These last two games were similar, a poor start followed by a strong second half. Only this time weren't in position for a game-winning buzzer beater. This team struggles with inconsistency on both ends and can never seem to play two good halves of basketball. Perhaps this year's tougher schedule exposed a lot of their problems but they had opportunities to win a lot of these games and just didn't get it done. They have to get the rotation in order and figure out where their other scoring options are going to come from. They can't expect Sherrod Wright to carry this team all season long. 

College Basketball

College Basketball