As they emerged from the tunnel before Sunday’s rematch, the Patriots were led by junior Andre Cornelius, smiling ear-to-ear as the Rams ran past them to assemble their layup line.

“Mason came in with some swagger. They came in with confidence. They were talking trash,” VCU coach Shaka Smart said. “One thing about [my] guys is they’re extremely competitive. When you challenge them, they always step up.”

In losing for the first time since Jan. 8 at Old Dominion, George Mason (26-6) hit just six of 25 from 3-point range and five of 13 free throws and matched its season low with eight assists on 26 baskets.

“We were not the offensive team we’ve been all season. Our guys got a little hurried because we fell behind quickly,” George Mason coach Jim Larranaga said. “We tended to be a little quick with the trigger.”

VCU (23-10) advanced to the CAA championship game against Old Dominion (26-6) on Monday night at Richmond Coliseum. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, while George Mason will spend an anxious week waiting for Selection Sunday to learn its fate.

Most experts have the Patriots in the tournament, but Larranaga took an ominous tone when he compared George Mason’s selection prospects to 2006, when it was one of the last teams chosen.

“I think our RPI in ’06 will probably end up being better than this year,” Larranaga said.

Sunday’s loss extended George Mason’s misery in Richmond. Since the CAA moved the tournament to the Coliseum in 1990, Mason is 0-10 against teams from Richmond and 21-8 against the rest of the league.

“[VCU] deserves all the credit. But it’s a tremendous advantage to be here at home,” Larranaga said. “When you play VCU, they’re basically the home team. Richmond Coliseum is walking distance from their campus.”

VCU took control from the start. On consecutive possessions, Skeen hit two 3-pointers and Burgess followed with another for a 16-8 lead. The 6-9 Skeen finished with four 3-pointers, twice as many as he hit in any game this season.

“I don’t know what happened to me,” Skeen said. “I never took six threes in a game in my life, not even AAU.”

Mason recovered from the perimeter assault as senior Cam Long (20 points) hit a short jumper, a 3-pointer, and made a driving 3-point play for a 20-18 lead.

But fueled by the raucous crowd of 8,962, VCU retaliated with a 20-3 run, which included another flurry of 3-pointers on consecutive possessions – one by Burgess, then a pair by senior reserve Brandon Rozzell (11 points). Late in the half, when Joey Rodriguez (13 points, 4 assists) fed Skeen for another 3-pointer, it gave VCU its biggest lead, 39-23.

“Yesterday against Drexel (in the quarterfinals) they drove the ball to the basket and got fouled,” Larranaga said. “They only took 10 threes. [Today] it was an entirely different look.”

After intermission, Mason solved the VCU defense briefly, scoring on its first five possessions. Junior forward Mike Morrison (5 points, 2 rebounds) opened the half with a three-point play and Long followed with a driving layup and a 3-pointer as the Patriots cut the lead to 40-33.

But the seven-point deficit would be as close as Mason would get as the Patriots struggled against the confusing defense of the Rams.

“We guarded them with a variety of defenses,” Smart said. “They are a very, very talented offensive team and you just can’t let them get in rhythm. They didn’t necessarily know what we were in at times. We used two different zones.”

Afterward, the question concerning Mason was: Are the Patriots in the NCAA tournament?

“I really hope so,” Long said. “I really don’t want to go out like this.”

Larranaga said the Patriots deserve an NCAA bid. But he also recognizes the deck is stacked against mid-major conference schools. In 30 years, CAA teams have received just three at-large bids.

“If I were on the committee, I’d be voting for us,” Larranaga said. “We’ve shown we can play at a high level. We’ve won 16 straight games. Our RPI was in the top 20. We were voted in the top [25]. All those are good credentials. To lose to a VCU, there’s no shame in that, cause they’re a terrific team too.”

If VCU wins on Monday night, is it reasonable to expect that Mason and Old Dominion would receive at-large berths, giving the CAA an unprecedented three teams in the NCAA tournament?

“Sure, why not?” George Mason athletic director Tom O’Connor, a member of the selection committee, said. “It’s not league, it’s individual teams. There are really good teams in this league that not only could get in, should get in. They could win games when they get in.”

O’Connor said the result of single games is often played up. But the committee takes a holistic approach to evaluating teams.

“The media gets all hyped up about one game – win or lose,” O’Connor said. “The committee doesn’t get hyped up on that. One loss, or one win, does not get you in or out. That’s impulse buying.”

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