GMU home win streak is in jeopardy tonight
After losing back-to-back road games, George Mason is anxious to return to the Patriot Center, where it has won 17 straight in the Colonial Athletic Association.
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Is there still magic in George Mason band director Doc Nix’s Kryptonite Kane?
The answer comes Wednesday night when Mason takes on nemesis Virginia Commonwealth, the CAA team most resistant to the intimidating effects of the Patriot Center and the effervescent beat of Nix’s ear-splitting pep band.
With three wins at Patriot Center in the last seven seasons, VCU has had more success in Fairfax than any other conference team.
There are other reasons for VCU (17-5, 9-4) to be confident. The Rams are coming off their fourth straight victory, 70-58, over rival Old Dominion.
“It’s a huge challenge, a challenge I think our guys are excited about,” said first-year coach Shaka Smart. “It’s still a 40-minute game, still five-on-five, with the baskets at 10 feet. If we guard and execute and have a level of resolve when something doesn’t go your way, when thousands of people are getting on you from the opposing crowd, you got a chance to win.”
Smart, 32 — who arrived at VCU after stints at Dayton, Clemson, and Florida — fits the profile of his rising-star predecessors at VCU, Jeff Capel, now at Oklahoma, and Anthony Grant, now at Alabama.
After a 1-3 start in the CAA, VCU has won eight of nine, all by double-digit margins. The Rams lead the conference in scoring (76.9 points per game), scoring margin (10.7 pg), free throw shooting (72.7 percent), steals (8.7 pg), and turnover margin (2.7 pg).
In junior center Larry Sanders (15.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg) and junior point guard Joey Rodriguez (11.2 ppg), VCU has the top players at their positions in the conference.
The 6-11 Sanders dominated Mason in the CAA championship game last March, scoring 18 points, grabbing 20 rebounds and blocking seven shots. The 5-10 Rodriguez leads the CAA in assists (6.1 pg), steals (2 pg), and assist/turnover ratio (2.7 pg).
“They’ve got all the components,” said Mason coach Jim Larranaga. “[Rodriguez] is quarterbacking the team very well. Larry Sanders is a force at both ends of the floor. … Their perimeter players are the recipient of a lot of good passes by Joey Rodriguez and those guys are making shots.”
Mason (15-9, 10-3) will look to 6-9 sophomore Mike Morrison to neutralize Sanders. Morrison was one of the few bright spots in Saturday’s 73-60 loss at Drexel, where he scored 17 points, hitting seven of eight shots from the floor.
“I’m not sure where we are mentally right now,” said Larranaga. “Hopefully being back home will help generate some energy.”
