George Mason is coming off a 67-59 win at Dayton. The win moved the Patriots to 4-1 (13-5) in the Atlantic 10. Good for first place.
"This is why we scheduled the way we scheduled," head coach Tony Skinn said. "We had a chance to go to Marquette in front of a rowdy crowd and we had a chance to go to Duke. If that's not one of the toughest places to play, I don't know what is. We were prepared for this. The guys locked in and knew how competitive they needed to be in this atmosphere. We made a couple shots early which gave us the confidence to propel us to the win."
Last time out, George Washington (2-2 A10, 13-4) fell to Duquesne in Foggy Bottom.
Win the Paint
George Mason's Jalen Haynes will be facing a red-hot Rafael Castro. Haynes is averaging 12.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Haynes uses his big body to prevent his defender from getting blocked shots and he has a soft touch around the basket.
Castro is coming off a career-high 27-point performance in a loss against Duquesne. He also grabbed 13 rebounds.
What makes this matchup so interesting is both players get it done a different way. Where Haynes (6'8") uses footwork and body placement, Castro (6'11")uses his athleticism on both sides of the floor.
Haynes is more important to Mason's offense than Castro is the GW's especially if Darren Buchanan is 100%. The Patriots can afford to have Haynes get in foul trouble.
Haynes and Castro aren't the only two bigs that will impact the game.
Giovanni Emejuru (George Mason) and Sean Hansen (George Washington) will also have a say in who wins the paint. Emejuru is more of an offensive threat, and Hansen is more likely to make the 50/50 plays.
Brayden O'Connell vs. Christian Jones
When O'Connell transferred to George Mason, he was thought of as a shooting guard or, at least, a guard who would spend more time off the ball than on it. Things have changed. The UMass-Lowell transfer has become George Mason head coach Tony Skinn's most trusted primary ballhandler, with KD Johnson (Auburn transfer) and Justin Begg (freshman) as his backups.
As the season has progressed, O'Connell has looked more comfortable in that role.
George Washington's Christian Jones can pressure the ball with the best of them. Jones has a career-high seven steals against Duquesne with six of them coming in the first half.
The Patriots offense feeds off of the defense so possessions are a premium so turnovers, especially live ball turnovers, are extermely detrimental to George Mason's offense.
Darius Maddox' Shooting
Even though he can disappear at times, Maddox is George Mason's best offensive player. Maddox has applied himself on that side on the floor in the last two games. In wins over UMass and Dayton, Maddox has shot a combined 15-26 from the floor (6-12 from 3).
When Maddox is hitting jump shots, driving lanes open for the likes of O'Connell and Woody Newton, along with generating long closeouts for Mason's other shooters.