Mason vs. JMU Preview

So, the big day is almost upon us. George Mason (16-6, 9-3) will be playing our JMU Dukes (15-9, 7-5) at the Convo on Saturday at 2pm. The Mason game is always the best attended and loudest of the year (is that part of a rivalry? hmmm). Last year, in a season when we averaged 3,632 people a game, the Mason game drew in 6,659 people to the Convo. Unfortunately, Dre Smith of Mason decided to go 10-10 from behind the arc for an NCAA record that night and Mason beat JMU 96-75. JMU is on a 2 game winning streak (though they haven't won a home game since Jan 21) and Mason is on a 1 game winning streak (though they haven't won an away game since Jan 14). Kenpom.com has Mason winning by 3 and the lines in Vegas have Mason winning by 3.5. The worst news for the Dukes is that senior Juwann James is still out after doctors have determined that his recent attack may have been a reoccurance of the pericarditis he had earlier in the year. Without a strong inside presence, Andrey Semenov and Dazz Thorton will have to step up and our outside shooters will have to be hot from 3-point range like they were on Wednesday night at GSU. Either way, a double digit loss would be surprising, as I expect this one to come down to the last seconds.

The freshmen will be key tomorrow as they are every week. Specific numbers of how important they have been has just been brought to my attention today. Andrey, Devon, and Julius need a combined 18 points to become the highest scoring freshman class in JMU's division I history. 18 points?! One of them alone will probably break that record tomorrow. And not only that, but they only need approximately 300 points (with no fewer than eight games remaining) to become the highest scoring class in program history. The two classes ahead of them were the first years of the program when everyone was a freshman (Stielper, Dillard). This group is already the first time we've ever had three freshmen score at least 200 points in a season apiece. To hit the top mark, they would have to average 37.5 points per game (if only playing in 8 more games, so basically assuming a first round loss in the CAA tournament). Up to this point they are averaging about 30 points a game, but the last 5 games they have averaged 36.6 PPG. If they are playing well and Kyle is still on from long range, we definitely have a change tomorrow. From '90 to '98, JMU went 18-2 against Mason. Since then, the Dukes are 4-18 against the Patriots. Let's hope this will be the game where we turn the tide back the other way. I'll be looking for a crowd to break last year's Mason game. Get there early and be loud for the whole game. No leaving early for this one!

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