You might remember that was a year where the Terps went to the Final Four of NCAA tournament. However, what many might have forgotten was how George Mason and a 30-year old George Evans nearly knocked them off in the first round. You can watch the whole game here and it came down the last possession as Maryland held on to an 83-80 win despite Evans’ heroic, old-man game powers:

” Evans scored 27 points with seven rebounds and four assists against Maryland. The opposing big men, Baxter, Morris, Wilcox, and Holden, combined for 16 points in the game. Evans’s last bucket — an and-1 putback — gave George Mason the lead with a little more than a minute to play, and if Steve Blake hadn’t nailed a go-ahead 3 on the next possession, maybe the sports world wouldn’t need any reminding of George Evans and his grown-and-sexy brand of basketball.”

The last time George Mason went on the road to College Park to play the Terps was back in 1999 and they lost another close one 69-66. Their last meeting was in DC at the BB&T tournament was also a close battle with Maryland getting the 69-62 win on a neutral court. Sherrod Wright and Patrick Holloway had solid games in that outing and Mason ended up forcing Maryland into 19 turnovers on the day. They were lead by Paul Hewitt at that point so they eventually feel apart in the second half after a solid start.

Mason has played the Terps close in a lot of match-ups in their history and with them squaring off this Friday night it could be another memorable game with the Patriots heading in 5-0. Mason will need a lot from their younger guys, some of whom will be playing in their first ever road game. I’m excited to see how this year’s team handles the atmosphere and possible adversity of playing the 6th ranked team in the nation. Right now they are predicted as a 17-point underdog but my gut tells me this one will be much closer.