Listen to Ryan Pearson on the CAA Basketball Radio show

CAA Player of the Week Ryan Pearson was on the CAA Basketball radio show down in Richmond yesterday with caahoops.com's Michael Litos:

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Previewing George Mason vs Drexel

The Patriots return to action tonight at 9 p.m. against the Drexel Dragons looking to win their 3rd straight CAA match. I know the game is at 9 p.m. because of the TV deal with MASN but it's still going to suck for attendance coupled with the fact that students do not return from winter break until the 24th. Home games in the CAA are an important advantage as the Patriots haven't lost many of them in the past couple of years. Drexel is a strong team despite some ups and downs and Mason needs this victory heading into a tough match-up at JMU this Saturday.  I think the big question is can Cam Long and Ryan Pearson continue to keep rolling like they have been on offense lately.  

Drexel is had an interesting season already, they beat a ranked Louisville squad in an ugly game back in December, have already beaten ODU and then lost to William & Mary last weekend by 14.  They are one of the best defensive teams in the CAA this year and are #1 in three-point shooting defense allowing their opponents to average only 25.9% from behind the arch.  That's an interesting factor heading into this game considering how dominant the Patriots can be shooting from there at home.  If the Dragons limit the Patriots three-point shooting attack it could thwart their high scoring act.  Drexel's defense along with good rebounding forcing teams into a gritty low scoring game, which would favor them.  If they make the game a battle in the front court Mason could struggle as Drexel has three forwards averaging six or more rebounds a game, including Samme Givens who leads the CAA with 10.5 a game. No player on Mason's roster is averaging more than five rebounds a game currently.

Drexel head coach Bruiser Flint thinks this is going to be a "physical, defensive-minded game" with both teams trying to grind it out. That's not really the Patriots game and I would hope they would attempt to veer away from a game like that with strong play from their guards.  Ryan Pearson has been a warrior in the front court lately and Mike Morrison has been improving but what let ODU beat them could be how Drexel makes this game interesting tonight.  In the end however I think the Patriots ability to put points on the board, especially at home, will be too much for the Dragons. Chris Fouch can score in bunches but the higher the score the better for Mason as they just have more weapons on offense.  

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Listen to Coach Larranaga's weekly teleconference audio

Check the audio from today's CAA weekly teleconference.



Also, Ryan Pearson was named CAA player of the week.

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Watch future Patriot Corey Edwards today on ESPNU at 11 a.m.

TheMasonBench posted this a few days ago and just wanted to make sure others knew that Corey Edwards of Jim Larranaga's 2011 recruiting class, will be playing on ESPNU today at 11 a.m. Edward's Christ the King high school team will be taking on Bishop Gorman from Nevada in the Spalding Hoophall Classic.

UPDATE: Well looks like he is not playing today due to an illness. Too bad.

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George Mason uses good free-throw shooting to defeat Georgia State, really

It's amazing how many different ways George Mason has won games this season. They have not had a secret recipe they use for each match up.  It might be smothering defense, it might be lights out three-point shooting, it might be fast break points off turnovers you just don't know.  Yesterday afternoon's 66-51 victory over Georgia State added another method of winning for the Patriots, dominating at the free-throw line. I've been complaining about this team's free-throw shooting for some time, most notably last season, so a game like this really makes me happy. The statsheet chart at the bottom of this post really drives home how effectively Mason got to the free-throw line and made the Panthers pay. Towards the end of this game the difference in points at the free-throw was what was keeping them ahead.  Getting to the line and playing solid defense is an easy way to win a basketball game and Mason proved they don't have to shoot 50% from the field or drain 10 three-pointers in order to win games. The Patriots are now 7-1 when their opponents turn over the ball more than 15 times in a game, Georgia State had 19 in this one.

It was an important win for Mason because they face a very good Drexel team at home this Wednesday and then travel to Harrisonburg to face JMU who are currently 5-1 in CAA play.  

College Basketball

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Patriots look to get back on track in the CAA this weekend against Georgia State

Mason looks to get back on track in the CAA this weekend at home against Georgia State.  The Patriots are coming off a dominating performance against under-matched Northeastern and the Panthers lost to JMU last night by 12. Georgia State seems to be a much improved team over last season as they have already beaten JMU and VCU earlier this season. In some ways they are very similar to Mason as they shoot the ball well and don't have a lot of size up front, also they are terrible at free-throws. The Panthers are also sharp on defense and currently are 2nd in the CAA in FG defense allowing teams to only average around 40% from the field on the season.  I don't think there is any way they can keep the Patriots from shooting under that percentage in the Patriot Center however.  The Panthers are more prone to turning over the ball and committing fouls which Mason can take advantage of as they have gone 6-1 this season when their opponent has 15 or more turnovers (GSU averaging 14.7 TOs a game).

Defense and rebounding is something they didn't really get tested on while playing Northeastern on Wednesday. The Huskies are one of the worst rebounding teams in all Division I as a commenting pointed out to me yesterday so them getting the edge in that category wasn't much of a victory.  To start moving up in the CAA standings the Patriots will have to make a better effort in preventing the other team from grabbing offensive rebounds. It killed them in the 2nd half against ODU and it will kill them against teams like Drexel and JMU if guys like Ryan Pearson and Mike Morrison don't become more assertive.  

Don't forget it's Jai Lewis bobblehead day at the Patriot Center!

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George Mason dominates Northeastern in 86-60 win

George Mason ended their three-game road trip with a win last night in snowy Boston over Northeastern 86-60.  The Patriots dominated the Huskies right from the start shooting nearly 70% from the field in the 1st half. Ryan Pearson had a career night scoring 24 points and started things off with a three pointer to open the game and then quickly picked up a technical for saying something to the NU bench. All this happened in about 40 seconds and I'm sure Pearson wasn't asking them "how about this snow huh?". Bone-headed and unnecessary but I'm sure most fans won't think much of it because of the blow out victory that followed. Up front the Patriots dominated the Huskies' post players and for the first time this season we saw them dominate on the boards. Mason set season-highs for points, field goal percentage, and three-point percentage in this win and really just took advantage of Northeastern's poor defensive effort. Cam Long flexed his offensive muscle last night as well adding 20 points and towards the end of the game he and Pearson combined for nearly the same amount Northeastern had on the scoreboard.  Luke Hancock contributed with 10 assists and nearly missed a double-double with 8 points.

The Patriots really needed to win at least two of games during that three-game road trip as the CAA looks to be as competitive as ever. It was good to see them have their way in the front court which is something we really haven't seen this season yet. They have the task of taking on Georgia State, who has already beaten VCU, and then Drexel back-to-back at home. After that they head to Harrisonburg to face a much improved JMU squad.  I think they will be back on track in the standings if they can win two of those next three as the CAA grinder will even out some of separation in the standings next week.  

NCAA Basketball

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