George Mason responded from a late game loss at Rhode Island with a 64-58 win over Richmond.
The Patriots have won four of its last five and moved to 11-5, 2-1 in the Atlantic 10. The Spiders fell to 7-9 overall and 2-1 in the conference.
Offensive Rebounds
In an era that continues to see the rise in three-point shooting in college basketball, George Mason's three-point shooting is not a strength. The Patriots are 10th in the Atlantic 10 in three-point shooting. In the first half, the Patriots were from three, with Woody Newton opening the game with three straight made threes.
However, eventually, the Patriots regressed to the mean and went 1-6 from long range in the second half.
George Mason made up for its shooting woes from long distance by pounding the offensive boards.
The Patriots finished with 13 offensive rebounds and 14 second-chance points, 8 of which came in the second half. That gets even more impressive, considering that center Jalen Haynes spent much of the night in foul trouble.
Free Throw Line Disparity
Richmond is first in free throw percentage and sixth in free throw attempts in the Atlantic 10.
George Mason dominated that aspect of the game. The Patriots finished the night with 28 free throw attempts, while Richmond finished with only eight.
Defensive Effort
That's impressive against the Spiders' Princeton-based offense. After the game, George Mason head coach Tony Skinn praised the defensive effort, particularly Jared Billups.
"We live and die by deflections and in the first half we only had 13 deflections," said Skinn. "Came out and had, I think, 20-plus, 22-plus in the second half, and Jared Billups had 14 of them."