George Mason shows off depth in rout of ODU

George Mason had their first blowout win of the season and it came on a night where leading scorer Sherrod Wright recorded only one point. Patrick Holloway and Paris Bennett, yes that Paris Bennett picked up the scoring load. Mason had 58 bench points, ODU had 9, that pretty much sums up the game right there.  Holloway and Bennett combined to hit as many shots from the field (12) as ODU's entire team did. The Monarchs were dreadful on offense and went 4-for-20 in the second half. The Patriots on the other hand shot 75% in the second half and scored 20 off the Monarchs 24 turnovers. The game was ugly to watch at times, fouls were called nearly every five seconds but Mason seemed to take advantage the most of the choppy play. It ended with 42 turnovers and 50 fouls total, oh CAA basketball.

Early in the season I said I wondered what would happen to this team offensively when Sherrod Wright had an off night. He had one point in this one and Mason really showed off their depth. ODU has been pretty awful this season but it was still a positive sign for the Patriots to win this decisively in his absence. No CAA team is as deep as Mason but the question still remains if they can use this asset to dance to an autobid.

The duo of Corey Edwards and Bryon Allen was short lived and I guess unnecessary once Mason established a good lead. However both had some nice assists and kept the offense moving as best as the pace would allow. It would have been nice to see the offense run a bit more smoothly against such a terrible defensive team but I can't complain with the outcome.

I had said previously that Mason's depth was overrated and probably not helping them. But with how bad the CAA is and how uneven this team can be, the depth certainly isn't hurting them. Not many CAA teams could survive having their leading scorer be a non-factor all night and the Patriots got a decisive win anyway. And how about Paris Bennett, this team has really needed an unselfish guy like him who will do all the dirty work in order to help them win. After last night's performance maybe we might see more of him. His awareness on the court last night cannot be overlooked, especially with all the mistakes some of the forwards on this team have been making. I'm not sure what his role will be going forward but it's certainly nice to have a guy like that on the bench ready to come in.

And for those wondering why Vaughn Gray hasn't played much this season, Washington Post writer Steven Goff shared some insight last night:

Hasn't performed well in practice RT @jonmcdizzle: do you know why Vaughn Gray hasn't played this year?
— Steven Goff (@GMUWashPost) January 11, 2013

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[Photos via George Mason Athletics]