George Mason welcomed an old friend to Fairfax when former UMass coach, Derek Kellogg brought his LIU Sharks to Eagle Bank.
The Patriots were facing more than just a familiar face, they were facing a team that was tailor-made for them on paper. LIU continuously pushed the pace and played man in the half court with a little bit of triangle-and-two.
The Patriots took advantage of it in the first half, shooting 44.2% from the field despite being 2-11 from three. As you can see, Jordan Miller took advantage of the space in the paint. He scored eight of his 13 first half points in the paint. Two points came just outside of the paint and he added a three-pointer to boot. Miller would end the night with 25 points.
George Mason would score 20 of their 36 first half points in the paint.
In the second half, George Mason’s offensive efficiency continued even though there wasn’t as many looks.
This time it was AJ Wilson who took advantage of the lane. Wilson had three dunks at point blank along with another finish in the lane. The shots that weren’t in the paint were just outside of it. This led to the Patriots attempting seven three pointers in the second half. That’s four less three pointers in the second half while scoring eight more points.
“I thought we lived in the paint a lot more on penetration, off post-ups, off AJ Wilson around the basket,” said Paulsen.
Freshman guard, Xavier Johnson, also played a big part in the Patriots success going to the basket. That drew high praise from Paulsen along with pointing out that there’s room for growth. “He’s dynamic… If he attacked every single rep, every single day he could be special.”
