George Mason Patriots NCAA Basketball News

Even before this basketball season began, George Mason Coach Jim Larranaga knew he was in for a bumpy ride. The Patriots are talented but young -- seriously young -- with only one senior, two juniors, three sophomores and seven freshmen.

'Not only are we going to have good nights and bad nights, we're going to have good halves and bad halves,' he said this fall. 'We may even go way up and then way down from timeout to timeout.'

Larranaga probably never imagined the November and December he and his team would go through. There were close losses to Villanova and Dayton. There were solid wins over Creighton and Indiana.

Ryan Pearson scored 16 of his 17 points in the second half to lead George Mason to a 67-63 victory over Hofstra on Monday night.

Coach Jim Larranaga, above, has a young team at George Mason this season, but junior Cam Long is taking a leadership role.

After a sobering 27-point loss at Radford Wednesday, when George Mason gave up an 18-point advantage around the basket, facing Colonial Athletic Association preseason Co-Player of the Year Gerald Lee seemed like a daunting task with which to open the 2010 portion of the men's basketball campaign Saturday afternoon.

In the past few years, VMI has become known for its high-scoring, up-tempo games. The Keydets are eager to shoot and shoot often, especially from behind the arc. And when playing this team from the Big South Conference, it can be tempting to try to match it three-pointer for three-pointer.

George Mason, however, wasn't about to be lured into that strategy, especially since the Keydets were allowing the Patriots to drive unimpeded to the basket. George Mason took few jump shots in its 89-86 victory over VMI at Patriot Center on Tuesday night, relying instead on high-percentage shots such as layups and dunks and making 56 percent of their field goals.

Facing the nation's most prolific offense in a Virginia Military Institute team scoring nearly 100 points a game, the George Mason men made a particularly concerted effort in getting back to the defensive half of the court after every Patriots possession Tuesday night, virtually forfeiting offensive rebound opportunities every time down the court.

MVC's Elgin reviews technical 3:53 p.m.: Missouri Valley Commissioner Doug Elgin said Monday that he is studying the late-game incident in which Creighton coach Dana Altman was assessed a technical foul in his team's 75-72... >> The loss that shouldn't be 5:40 p.m.: Tough loss.

Cam Long scored 22 points and George Mason rallied late to beat Creighton 75-72 on Saturday.

First month tough for Jays 10:30 p.m.: The first month of this basketball season hasn't been one of the best ones for Creighton.

You never know what a coach will say when he comes in after a one-point loss --- especially after a game that really entirely different before and after the break.

Chris Johnson had 14 points and Dayton held off a furious second-half rally by George Mason in a 56-55 win on Tuesday night.

Published: Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 6:59 p.m. Last Modified: Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 6:59 p.m. UNC-Wilmington men's basketball coach Benny Moss searched for positives Saturday night following a 57-52 loss to George Mason.

The week ahead: UD at George Mason , 7 p.m. Tuesday ; Old Dominion at UD, 7 p.m. Friday .

"Pressure caused us to dribble without going anywhere" - UNCW coach Benny Moss on his team's offense in the first half.

For entertainment purposes only, UNCW is a 1.5 point favorite. Here is my game advance , which discusses the impact of the freshmen in the UNCW frontcourt.

Mount Vernon has seen a wealth of basketball talent come through during Bob Cimmino's 15 years as head coach.

There's perhaps no point in the history of George Washington basketball when a victory over George Mason - the younger, less prestigious school five miles outside the Beltway - would have meant so much.

George Mason sophomore starters Andre Cornelius and Ryan Pearson will be unavailable for tonight's men's basketball game at George Washington after violating team rules.

Kevin Sims scored 22 points and Tulane defeated George Mason 76-71 on Saturday. The Green Wave trailed 40-34 with 18:17 left in the game before going on a 10-2 run.

Kevin Sims hit two free throws to move within three points of George Mason as we close in on halftime.