Beltway Basketball Beat: Patriots showing potential in the A-10 race

Marquette's Kam Jones tries to get past George Mason's Jared Billups during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)(AP/Morry Gash)

The Atlantic 10 Tournament returns to D.C. in March with plenty of hope surrounding the schools within driving distance of the District.

Here’s what you need to know.

VCU was the preseason favorite while Richmond won the tournament the last time it was held in Washington (two years ago). But it’s George Mason (15-5, 6-1 Atlantic 10) who stands atop the conference standings as we reach the final weekend of January’s “Show Me Month.”

Last Saturday’s 80-77 double-overtime victory over George Washington saw the Patriots prevail despite major issues at the line (they missed 10 of their first 20 free throws) as well as outside the arc (3-17 from three-point range).

And they would have lost in regulation had GW not missed a pair of free throws with 0.6 seconds left. But the team’s dealt with adversity since a Nov. 13 loss at home to Central Michigan helped ensure they’d be 4-3 on Thanksgiving.

“But we took our resilience to James Madison (a Nov. 29 victory), and we’ve been rolling ever since,” coach Tony Skinn said after the team’s win over the Revolutionaries. “We’re learning all sorts of different lessons in these games and hopefully we’ll just continue to trend up.”

Darius Maddox (14.3 points per game) leads Mason in scoring while Jalen Haynes (7.2 rebounds per game) is their best on the boards, but there’s another player who is turning into the Patriots glue guy on both ends of the floor.

Jared Billups tallied 16 rebounds in the win over George Washington and his layup with 1:15 left in the second extra session gave GMU the lead for good.

“You don’t win a college basketball game at George Mason without Jared Billups,” coach Tony Skinn said. “He’s a contagious basketball player, he’s a contagious person. And that’s starting to transform into some of these other guys and we can just continue to ping-pong that energy between different guys, we’re going to be a hard team to beat.”

Mason followed up the win over GW by going on the road and beating St. Bonaventure in Olean, New York, for the first time since 2004. Four of their next seven are also away from Fairfax, wrapping up with a Feb. 22 trip to VCU.

This week’s Starting Five:

Up Top: Auburn is the unanimous No. 1 in the new AP Top 25 poll, and the Tigers are atop my ballot for the second straight week followed by Duke, Iowa State and Florida (the Cyclones and Gators both lost last week).

Biggest variances: I have Saint Mary’s No. 18 and the Gaels are currently unranked while I voted Ole Miss No. 23 and the Rebels are 16th. Difficult omissions: Missouri, West Virginia, Vanderbilt, and Clemson. Small school shoutout: Bradley (16-3) leads the Missouri Valley Conference and checks in at No. 25.

Going Inside: American (11-9, 5-2 Patriot League) blew a 12-point first half lead at home against Lehigh Wednesday, trailing 66-61 with 32 seconds left in regulation. But, somehow the Mountain Hawks missed three of four free throws while Greg Jones Jr. went 2-2 followed by a Matt Mayock three-pointer.

And, when Lehigh turned the ball over with six seconds left, the window that was almost slammed shut was open just enough for Lincoln Ball’s game-winning, buzzer-beating jumper.

“We had drawn it up for Matt Rogers … when I saw it kind of diverted a little bit I was like ‘just run to the ball and hopefully Matt can find me,'” Ball said. “I didn’t know how much time was left on the clock. I’ve never shot a one-handed push floater from the elbow before in a game in my life. It was just being in the right place at the right time.”

The team’s fourth straight win comes despite a rough second half where the Mountain Hawks made 6-9 three-pointers.

“I felt that we were really trending to try to be the team that we say that we are from a defensive standpoint. So today was a step back from that,” coach Duane Simpkins said. “But I believe that still we are a very good defensive team, we’re going to get back to that. That’s what gives me hope that we can win a lot of games.”

Next up for AU: A Saturday showdown for first place in the conference with four-time defending regular season champ Colgate. I’ll see you courtside.

Perimeter Play: James Madison (11-9, 4-4 Sun Belt) is getting a football flashback this winter as they’re learning success on the basketball court has its price as well.

Mark Byington may not have taken a big chunk of his roster to Vanderbilt like former football coach Curt Cignetti (only forward Jaylen Carey left for the SEC school), but last year’s leading scorer Terrence Edwards is now at Louisville while others have departed for UTSA and Chicago State.

Add the loss of four senior starters last spring from the 32-4 team that advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament and it’s no surprise the Dukes have been taking their lumps this winter.

But JMU can still rebound (ranking second in the SBC) and defend (fourth-fewest points allowed), which gives coach Preston Spradlin and his team cause for confidence in a competitive conference (nine teams are between 4-3 and 3-4 as of Thursday).

They also still have their hex on Old Dominion, with Wednesday’s 74-60 win in Norfolk improving the Dukes to 6-0 against the Monarchs since they joined the conference in 2022.

Who’s Open: I mentioned VCU (15-4, 5-1 Atlantic 10) earlier, and the Atlantic 10’s preseason favorite has lived up to its billing. The Rams lead the conference in scoring defense and turnover margin while ranking second in rebounding margin and scoring.

The oft-traveled Joe Bamisile (previous stops include Virginia Tech and George Washington) is averaging 17 points with five rebounds per game, combining with Max Shulga to provide a nice 1-2 punch.

Coach Ryan Odom’s team has also won all of its games against other schools with the Rams nickname (Rhode Island, Fordham, Colorado State), so that has to count for something. It’s a shame that VCU and George Mason will meet just once in the regular season (Feb. 22 at the Siegel Center).

Last Shot: Georgetown (13-6, 4-4 Big East) snapped a four-game losing streak Monday by going on a 10-0 run over the final 4:30 of regulation in their 64-63 win at Villanova 64-63. It was also the Hoyas’ first win on the Wildcats’ home floor since 2011.

The schedule lightens up with just one of their next six games coming against a team with a winning conference record but starts in a difficult environment: Saturday at 12:30 in Providence against coach Ed Cooley’s former team.

Hurt feelings die hard and the Friar faithful are a salty bunch. I’ll be watching before heading to American-Colgate.

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Dave Preston

Dave has been in the D.C. area for 10 years and in addition to working at WTOP since 2002 has also been on the air at Westwood One/CBS Radio as well as Red Zebra Broadcasting (Redskins Network).

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