It doesn’t seem fair for a 6-foot-10 freshman to get razzed by his teammates after missing two 3-pointers. But that was the only criticism, and a minor one at that, for George Mason forward Vlad Moldoveanu after he collected nine rebounds and five points in 25 minutes during the Patriots’ season-opening 60-53 win over Vermont.
“Heck of a debut,” said Patriots head coach Jim Larranaga. “[Moldoveanu] is a very good 3-point shooter as well. The shots he took were all good, in rhythm. But his defense and rebounding, something that we’ve really emphasized to him, something that he’s done sporadically well, I thought he did a great job.”
The Patriots (1-0) finished the game a combined 1-for-17 from behind the arc.
“We gotta learn how to win different ways on different nights,” said junior guard John Vaughan. “The three-point shot is not going to be on every night.”
Moldoveanu may see significant minutes again tonight. Senior forward Darryl Monroe (toe surgery) has been cleared by doctors and could dress but is expected to miss a second straight game.
A win would give Larranaga his first 2-0 start in 11 years at George Mason. Cleveland State (1-0) opened with a 73-70 upset win over South Florida.
