Patriots tied for first in CAA after VCU loss
For three years, George Mason guard Andre Cornelius has been a square peg in a round hole. With the body of a point guard and the mentality of a wing, the 5-foot-10 junior has struggled to find his place.
Wednesday night, however, Cornelius had no identity issues as he scored a career-high 22 points to lead George Mason to its eighth straight win, 87-68, over Hofstra before 5,230 at Patriot Center.
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Cornelius hit his first four shots from the floor, all 3-pointers, as GMU bolted to a double-digit lead in the first half. After intermission, junior forward Ryan Pearson (19 points, 12 rebounds) took over as the Patriots remained in cruise control, avenging a defeat at Hofstra four weeks ago.
“When we played them at their place, that’s how good they were,” said Mason coach Jim Larranaga. “Fortunately for us, we’ve had a number of guys playing well for an extended period of time.”
With the victory, George Mason (18-5, 10-2) moved into a tie for first place in the Colonial Athletic Association with Virginia Commonwealth (18-6, 10-2), a 91-80 loser at Northeastern.
The way the GMU guards are playing lately, it might not matter how Mason employs Cornelius. Wednesday’s victory was another artistic display of ball movement and efficient offense. The Patriots’ 29 baskets came via 20 assists.
“The first key is stopping them, so you get offensive opportunities,” said Larranaga. “The second key is finding the open man, which we did so well.”
Senior Cam Long (15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists), junior Luke Hancock (9 points, 7 assists) and senior Isaiah Tate (12 points) contributed as Mason hit 47 percent from the floor and 56 percent from beyond the arc (10-of-18).
Cornelius matched the output of CAA scoring leader Charles Jenkins (22 points, 7 assists), but got his points in much more efficient fashion, taking 10 shots from the floor to 20 for Jenkins, a 6-3 senior.
“I really don’t care about scoring like that, I just want to get the win,” said Cornelius. “I’m a point guard, but I can score too. Coach wants me to score and get people involved.”
Long and Tate played defense on Jenkins, who wrecked Mason in the first meeting, scoring 32 points and dealing eight assists.
“He can shoot. He can drive. He’s physical,” said Tate. “He almost got his average, but I think he had a pretty rough night. We definitely weren’t going to let him have the same game he had at Hofstra.”
Hofstra (14-9, 8-4) came out firing. Guard Mike Moore (18 points) hit a pair of 3-pointers and Jenkins scored five points on back-to-back possessions as the Pride took a 13-8 lead.
But Mason answered with a 12-2 run. Cornelius fed Hancock for a breakaway dunk, then drained a 3-pointer. Moments later, Pearson threw a pass that was deflected by a defender, off the knee of a referee, and back to Pearson, who dropped a line-drive 3-pointer as the Patriots took the lead for good, 18-15.
The lead swelled to 16 in the first half as Long scored on a breakaway dunk. Mason made the most of its possessions throughout and dominated the boards, 45-29.
“For us to win, Charles has got to have some great nights, especially in environments like this – tough place to play against a very good team,” said Hofstra coach Mo Cassara. “Charles can’t be good. He almost has to be spectacular because we don’t have a lot of other answers.”
Cornelius was Mason’s answer on Wednesday. In the second half, he exceeded his previous career high (19 points) when he scored on back-to-back possessions – a reverse layup, followed by a baseline floater, giving Mason a 65-50 bulge midway through the second half.
Cornelius is in the midst of the best stretch of his career, hitting 15 of his last 28 field goal tries (54 percent) and 11 of 22 three-point attempts (50 percent), averaging 16.7 points in his last three games.
“I’ve just been in the gym,” said Cornelius. “When everybody’s asleep, I’ve been putting up shots and working on my ball-handling.”
