Road struggles continue, Mason gets throttled by Northeastern 71-46

One commenter here mentioned he should probably only watch home games from now on. You can really start to say this team is night and day when it comes to road games versus home games. We should have expected this given the team's youth but after watching some great home performances so far it's difficult to believe the team can play this bad anywhere. The Patriots, who I thought might struggle with the Huskies' front court, had no answer for Chaisson "Mason Killin" Allen. Allen had 20 points and sank 6 three-pointers, most in the first half. As a team Northeastern went 9-for-18 from the three-point and that's just unacceptable. The Huskies did have a great night shooting the ball but the Patriots made it too easy for them early and struggled to mount a comeback. I don't see this team coming back from too many deficits on the road this year, the experience and mental edge just isn't going to materialize overnight.

Ryan Pearson was the only bright spot for the Patriots as he collected 20 points and 10 rebounds. He helped Mason amazingly collect more offensive rebounds but I guess if your the Northeastern and your aren't missing many shots you won't be getting many offensive boards anyway. His grit and toughness around the basket would have complemented some of the guards greatly if they actually hit some outside shots last night. Once the Patriots get off their balanced attack game plan and become one-dimension like they did here, it's over. Mason doesn't have that one guy who can carry the team to victory, they need a collection of guys driving to the basket and hitting the outside shot while also looking for the fast break opportunity.

The CAA schedule gets a tad bit easier for Mason as Hofstra might be the only road challenge up ahead. This team might largely benefit from not having to play William & Mary nor VCU on the road this season.

Below is a chart from StatSheet.com and it highlights the "Four Factors to Winning at Basketball". If you have never heard of this statistical breakdown before read more about what they mean here

NCAA Basketball Stats

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George Mason at Hofstra Highlights and Post Game

Long scores career-high 27 on way to 90-72 win over Hofstra

The Patriots currently sit a lone in 1st place in the CAA standings after a convincing 90-72 rout of the Hofstra Pride Tuesday night. The shooting display the Patriots showcased was nothing shot of spectacular as everything seemed to fall early on. From three-point range they seemed relentless and finished the 1st half 60% from there, a higher percentage then they were from the free-throw line. Cam Long, who netted a new career-high 27 points, is finally starting to look like the All-CAA player we had all hoped to be seeing this year. His efforts along with Andre Cornelius and regular scorer Ryan Pearson showed just how dangerous the Patriots can be offensively we they play well as a team. Previously to the last two games we have seen some great individual efforts from Long, Cornelius, and Pearson but now we starting to see the full potential of these guys working together. If that group continues to have nights like this, I can see this team going through the rest of the CAA schedule without much turbulence.

Aside from the shooting display last night, the Patriots played with a killer instinct and would not let the Pride get back into any kind of rhythm. If they made a big shot, the Patriots would answer right back with a slash to the basket or a pull up jumper. On defense they were aggressive but also played the zone very well giving Hofstra problems all night. Hofstra didn't necessarily have a bad shooting night, it was just that the Patriots had a much better one, especially early on. Charles Jenkins and Chaz Williams put on a good scoring display for the Pride but defensively that squad has some work to do.

-If your interested in a collection of whiny rants from a Hofstra fan, look no further

-Tom Pecora has some interesting comments during the post game:

"George Mason got to that 90 point threshold in part by Ryan Pearson nailing a three-pointer with 38 seconds left and the game already in hand that gave the Patriots an 87-68 lead. When asked in the post game press conference of George Mason taking a three-pointer that late in a game holding a 16 point lead Pecora said, “That’s Mason. Their reputation perceives them. I’m a big boy, I know how to take a beating and I know how to give one and it’s a round world.”

So basically Pearson should have just stood there and let the shot clock run out, because they were up by so many?

-Newsday: Pecora rips Hofstra players after rout by George Mason