George Mason lost their season opener last night to Penn 72-71 in a mostly underwhelming performance. Penn isn’t a bad team by any stretch; but a team many are saying should compete for the A-10 title should probably beat any Ivy league school. Mason turned over the ball 17 times, hardly got off many three-pointers, and had some questionable line-ups on the floor. Otis Livingston II wasn’t enough of a factor and Jaire Grayer got into early Foul Trouble and finished playing only nine minutes.

On he bright side Justin Kier and Jarred Reuter looked good. Kier was aggressive on both ends, getting three steals, eight rebounds, and 12 points. Reuter added 15 points and overall looked good but still has to get better staying out of Foul trouble. Freshmen Jamal Hartwell looked great in his debut and you could have argued he desired more minutes. AJ Wilson provided a big spark and played well for the most part but you have to wonder why Paulsen seem to go with him over Ian Boyd down the stretch in a close game. Javon Greene showed some flashes and did his job at the free-throw line, he’ll continue to get better but where are the three-pointers?

Goanar Mar somehow played 37 minutes while managing to be invisible. Not a good sign for a kid who had a great start to his freshmen year. Also no sign of Jason Douglas-Stanley which was puzzling considering he’s a three-point threat and they weren’t hitting any last night. Sophomore Greg Calixte also struggled which is a concern considering Reuter got into foul trouble in this one.

Turnovers were a scary thing to watch, especially for a team that has had the advantage of extra summer practices and games in their foreign trip to Spain. Paulsen is now 1-3 in his home openers but I thought this year would be different. I think they will bounce back and figure out the right rotations but it needs to happen soon.

More great photos from Bill Bride: