George Mason looks to regroup for a slate of games between three tough opponents in South Dakota in the Crossover Classic this week. They face Washington tonight (#139), followed by Nevada (#74) and finally South Dakota St. (#78) on Wednesday. Mason’s coming off a loss to James Madison on Friday where they shot poorly from the field, turned over the ball 21 times, and were out played physically overall. They didn’t look much like the team that jumped out to convincing 4-0 start prior. Obviously three-point shooting is a priority for this team but they should also be able to have success in the paint with the overall lineup size they typically have on the court. This tournament will give us a pretty good idea what his team is really made of and if they can continue to have success.
They will face off against a good Washington team tonight but not one that is nearly as efficient on offense. The effective FG% between the two teams is currently 36.8 (#352) for the Huskies and 58.6 (#15) for the Patriots. Washington has better defensive numbers but it’s clear to see how Mason could have a big advantage in this game if they build an early lead with success at the three-point line. Defensively we’ll hope to see the same intensity we’ve been seeing and create opponent turnovers.
Turnovers in general have been too much of an issue this season. They’ve had mixed reviews in the overall ball-handling by the point guard position. Xavier Johnson and DeVon Cooper have been the biggest culprits here and a lot of the turnovers are unforced. If they can begin to clean this up it would go a long way but they could use some stability at the position and hopefully the eventual return of Ronny Polite can help there.
I like the field in this MTE because if Mason can have success and go 3-0 that’s huge for a possible at-large bid. Boy we haven’t talked about that being a possibility in a long time! Even 2-1 would be great and give us more confidence that this squad can compete for the A-10 crown.
