Patriots Prevail--ACC elimination game?

Big win in Mason Nation Tuesday--the fans at the Patriot Center (a record student crowd of 2,061) stormed the court after George Mason's 63-51 win over CAA-leading Virginia Commonwealth; a win that moves GMU within a game of the Rams in the conference race.

Keys to victory--the Patriots were able to hold preseason CAA Player of the Year Eric Maynor to 3 second half points (1-4 FG with 3 turnovers after intermission) and a lineup shift to Will Thomas and four guards powered a 20-4 second half run. Thomas shouldered the burden of being not just the primary post presence, but the only inside player for GMU (21 points on 8-of-9 shooting, 15 rebounds). Coach Jim Larranaga's team meets James Madison Saturday before a crucial three game roadtrip (Drexel, Old Dominion and Towson are a combined 11-16 in the CAA--but GMU's 2-3 league road record includes a loss to Georgia State).



Maryland meets Virginia in a clash of Potomac River Rivals--something that seems to mean a lot on the football field but little on the basketball court. But both schools have quite a bit at stake-- the Cavaliers can ill afford to start 1-5 in the ACC (last 1-5 team to make the NCAA's--Maryland in '86)--coach Dave Leitao's team has lost three conference games by less than three points or in overtime. The Terps, meanwhile, would drop to 11th place in the league with a loss--and three of their next four are away from College Park.

Not only does Maryland have to contend with Sean Singletary (3rd in the ACC in scoring and tops in assists) but a Virginia team that will let loose from outside: their 9 three-pointers made per game paces the conference and they take quite a few of those threes in transition, creating plenty of matchup problems for coach Gary Williams (good thing his team is 2nd best in the ACC in 3point defense).

The Terps have a huge advantage inside with James Gist and Bambale Osby both coming off stellar games against Duke (combining for 46 points and 20 rebounds against the Blue Devils). Last year Virginia swept Maryland, getting quality performances from supporting players like Mamadi Diane (26 points in Charlottesville) and Tunji Soroye(13 points in College Park)...will we be saying the same about Cliff Tucker or Mike Scott after tonight?