Without scoring a point in the first half, Luke Hancock was the most important player on the floor Wednesday night at George Mason.
On his team’s first four possessions, the 6-foot-5 sophomore set up teammates for baskets, giving Mason a lead it never relinquished on its way to a 66-52 victory over Loyola before 4,674 at the Patriot Center.
Hancock finished with 13 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals in another demonstration of the strides he has made after a promising, but uneven freshman season. His two dunks in the final 3:08 were an appropriate exclamation.
| Up next |
| George Mason at Liberty |
| When » Saturday, 7 p.m. |
| Where » Vines Center, Lynchburg |
| TV » MASN |
| Liberty (6-4) of the Big South has won four straight, behind 6-2 sophomore Evan Gordon (14.4 ppg) and junior John Brown (12.6 ppg, 10.8 rpg), who is at his third school in as many years and leads the Big South in rebounding despite being just 6-4. The home team has won each of the last three years, all the games decided by single-digit margins. |
“[Sharing the ball] was something we didn’t think Luke was that strong at,” said senior Cam Long. “But now that he’s been able to work around that and get everyone involved, it shows how much skill level he has in his game to be able to pass and score like he does.”
While Hancock started many successful plays Wednesday, junior forward Ryan Pearson (18 points, 4 rebounds) and Long (15 points) finished, hitting a combined 12 of 16 shots from the floor.
“A lot of it is acting,” said Pearson of his tendency to see many of his shots fall through the hoop while he is flat on the floor.
Long was perfect on three 3-point tries, his first, on Mason’s opening possession, made the 6-4 guard the 30th player in program history to reach 1,000 points in his career.
“I was glad to do it in the environment that’s here,” said Long, a 6-4 guard. “Our crowd is ridiculous. To get a standing ovation from everybody was a great feeling.”
Mason coach Jim Larranaga mentioned Long along with many of his best players, but said his contributions go beyond the stat sheet.
“Cam wants to win. That’s the single purpose when he plays,” said Larranaga. “But he’s also able to contribute in a lot of different ways. He can score, which everybody recognizes. But he’s also defending, he can rebound, he’s getting assists, he’s getting steals, he’s making big shots, he’s making big free throws.”
In winning its fifth straight decisively, Mason (7-2) again shot well (50 percent) and played strong defense. In each of the wins on their current streak, the Patriots have prevented foes from shooting better than 40 percent from the floor. In the five wins they have hit 130 of 256 shots (51 percent).
The only negative was that the Patriots were out-rebounded, 33-26. Part of the reason was the foul trouble of 6-10 junior Mike Morrison (7 points, 4 rebounds) who was limited to 19 minutes after picking up two quick fouls.
“We’ve got to do a much better job of defensive rebounding,” said Larranaga. “We’ve gotta have some guys make up their mind that defensive rebounding is their thing.”
Wednesday’s verdict was never in doubt as Mason bolted to a 19-7 lead on a 3-pointer by junior Andre Cornelius (6 points, 3 assists). In the second half, baskets by Hancock twice expanded the Patriots lead to 20 points.
In addition to developing more consistency, Hancock’s game has grown exponentially. His scoring is up from last year (team-high 13.1 ppg from 7.7), along with his field goal (56.5 percent from 50.3) and 3-point (50 percent from 32.4) shooting. Hancock is second on the team in rebounding (5.4 pg, up from 3.5) and leads in assist (4.5 pg, up from 3.0).
Larranaga said Hancock has improved his 3-point shooting and defense.
“This year he’s really looking for [the 3-pointer] and it’s become a great weapon,” said Larranaga.
Mason takes its act on the road, playing Saturday night at Liberty (6-4). It is the last game before exam week.
“I’m a little concerned about fatigue now,” said Larranaga. “We’ve played not only a number of games, but we’re at exams. Often times guys are working on their papers and tests and studying, they don’t get as much sleep. When they don’t get as much rest they’re a little tired coming to practice. We need to overcome that.”
