Dave Preston is an AP Top 25 voter. See his latest ballot here.
Can this be happening? George Mason (18-1, 6-0 Atlantic 10) is waking up the echoes of its 2006 Final Four team this winter, and not just by holding a 20-year reunion of the team last month while hanging a banner in honor of the program’s winningest coach Jim Larrañaga.
Picked in the middle of the A-10 in the preseason, with a mostly new roster and losing their only veteran on opening night to injury, the Patriots have been simply amazing through the first half of the regular season.
They rallied in the final minutes Monday to pull past George Washington, 69-64, in a game filled with momentum swings. Mason held the Revolutionaries to 1-3 shooting with three turnovers over the final four minutes of regulation.
It was a clutch 3-pointer by senior guard Jahari Long (his only basket of the evening) that put Mason ahead to stay with 1:56 left.
“That’s a tough shot to hit in that stretch of a moment. Again, he’s an older guy, he’s so relaxed,” coach Tony Skinn said. “Most kids don’t make that shot and he did when we needed him to.”
Long’s no stranger to delivering in the second half, as he scored all 14 of his points after intermission in a Jan. 10 win over VCU.
“Moments like that, he never gets too high, never gets too low,” junior guard Kory Mincy said. “We trust him to take those kind of shots, and like I say all the time, I feel like he’s one of the best late shot-makers in the country.”
The win keeps the Patriots unbeaten in Atlantic 10 play while continuing the best start in program history. But the season is only getting underway, and there are many tough tests ahead, starting Saturday at Rhode Island.
“Like I’ve told these guys, the competition is going to get harder and harder because you’re going to get the best version of each team,” Skinn said. “I’m happy for these guys because they’re learning exactly what they need to learn as we get down the stretch in conference play.”
Starting five
Up top: Arizona remains atop my ballot and the overall rankings as the unbeaten pack thinned to three following losses from Iowa State and Vanderbilt last week. And the other two remaining unbeatens are equally unlikely: Nebraska entered the top 10 this month for the first time since 1966, while Miami (Ohio) hasn’t been ranked since 1999.
Biggest differences from my ballot: I did not have No. 19 Kansas on my ballot while I’ve got 13th ranked BYU No. 9 this week. Toughest omissions: Kansas, Louisville, St. John’s, Wisconsin and Utah State. Small school shoutouts: Saint Louis, Saint Mary’s, Miami (Ohio) and George Mason.
Going inside: Maryland (8-11, 1-7 Big Ten) posted its first conference win Sunday as the Terps rode the hot shooting of Diggy Coit in a 96-73 rout of Penn State.
“He has video game tendencies,” coach Buzz Williams said after the win. “He has an ability to score at his size that’s uncommon, he can gain space because he’s always played as an undersized guard, and his ability to make shots — particularly off the dribble — is rare.”
And while the victory takes the Terps out of last place in the conference, the road to respectability will not be easy.
“You know there’s nothing really to celebrate when we’re 1-6,” Terps forward Elijah Saunders said. “We’re about to play two ranked teams, so this is a tough league and we’ve got to keep our head down and keep working.”
The Terps’ tough stretch began Wednesday with an 89-70 loss at No. 11 Illinois and continues Saturday at No. 10 Michigan State.
Perimeter play: No. 14 Virginia (16-2, 5-1 ACC) wraps up a rough stretch when the Cavaliers host North Carolina. The Tar Heels might be ranked 22nd nationally, but they’re 0-3 in road conference games. Coach Ryan Odom’s Cavaliers aren’t as deliberate offensively as they were under Tony Bennett, averaging 61.1 field goal attempts this year, compared with 55.5 in the 2023-24 season.
But the Cavs are still sharp defensively, ranking third in scoring defense and first in defensive field goal percentage and rebounding margin.
U.Va.’s already passed last year’s win total, and after the Tar Heels drop by John Paul Jones Arena, the Hoos’ next three foes are a combined 4-14 in the league (Notre Dame, Pitt, Boston College). That’s the big picture, while the small snapshot involves whether or not they can contain UNC freshman forward Caleb Wilson, who’s averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds per game.
Who’s open: Navy (14-6, 6-1 Patriot League) responded to its loss last week at American by ripping off a pair of wins, prevailing in double overtime at Lehigh 82-79 before blowing out Holy Cross 85-68 on Wednesday night as the Midshipmen’s one-two punch of Austin Benigni and Aidan Kehoe returned to form.
The Mids lead the conference by one game after American’s win over Colgate drops the Raiders to 5-2, and they host archrival Army in Annapolis on Saturday. The Midshipmen have won six of the last seven meetings between the two schools.
Last shot: George Washington (12-7, 3-3 Atlantic 10) continues a stretch of local competition by hosting Richmond (13-7, 3-4) Saturday. The Spiders also enter the 3 p.m. showdown on a two-game slide after a crushing home loss to Rhode Island, where UR allowed the game-winning 12-foot jumper to URI with two seconds remaining.
They’ve been able to hurt teams from outside, ranking second in the A-10 at shooting, defending the 3 and turnover margin. However, GW did shoot 17-33 from outside the arc (and 59% from the field) in a 99-85 loss at Robins Center on Dec. 31.
Right now both teams are a hot streak away from moving into fourth place (and the vaunted double bye in the A-10 Tournament) as well as an unfortunate slide away from slipping into 11th (and the dreaded first round). I’ll see you courtside.
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