Dave Preston is an AP Top 25 voter. Read his latest ballot here.
Easy nights in the Atlantic 10 are few and far between. For coaches, players, and sometimes the rims. On Wednesday, A-10 leading George Mason visited George Washington and the first half saw both teams struggle to find their shooting stroke, combining for 32 points with both teams shooting under 30%.
And while both would heat up (George Washington hit 54% of its field goals in the second half while Mason made 5 of 9 3-pointers after halftime), it was another drought (0-2 with two turnovers over the final ninety seconds of regulation) that would spell doom for the Revolutionaries in a 53-50 loss to the Patriots.
“I thought they were going to go on their run,” George Mason head coach Tony Skinn said. “We know it’s conference play and we’re going to get the best of everyone. Fortunately, we were able to squeeze out a win on the road in conference play. I’ll take it.”
The Patriots’ eighth straight victory was their fifth by six points or fewer in that stretch, while George Washington is 1-4 in said games-including a pair of three-point defeats to Mason (the loss in Fairfax came in double-overtime).
“I’m proud of my guys, where we are. I think Mason’s really good. I think we’re right there,” George Washington head coach Chris Caputo said. “I just think we have a little bit of inexperience and a lack of shooting at times and it does cost you when you play against really good teams.”
The two A-10 Georges have different paths ahead of them to March’s conference tournament in D.C. The Patriots (18-5, 9-1 Atlantic 10) own a one-game lead and are enjoying the emergence of senior forward Jalen Haynes. The transfer from Virginia Tech and East Tennessee State tallied 17 points with seven rebounds Wednesday against George Washington and put Mason ahead to stay with 46 seconds left in regulation.
“He’s gotta have a little more poise because he’s going to see a little more double-teams,” Skinn said. “But having a guy like that, that you can throw the ball inside to, that you can run some offense with on the perimeter: it’s just a tough guard. He’s physical, he can make plays. Sometimes he’s your best passer, he’s your best rebounder, he’s your best scorer. He’s elite.”
The Revolutionaries (15-8, 4-6) find themselves in the growing A-10 middle class, one game back from sixth place in the conference and one game ahead of last place in the league (and the dreaded opening round). But they’ve already matched last year’s victory total, and with those strides made comes belief.
“The confidence is we’ve been able to compete against anybody at a pretty high level and we’ve had our chances,” Caputo said. “I’ve got to continue to do a better job helping these guys find ways to win these close games. You can’t lose your spirit, and then you also can’t lose your nerve.”
The road to Capital One Arena continues with George Mason hosting Rhode Island on Saturday, and George Washington visiting St. Bonaventure on Sunday.
This week’s Starting Five:
Up Top: Auburn remains No. 1 after wins at LSU and then-No. 23 Ole Miss, and while the Tigers are the only school still unbeaten in conference play (from Duke in the ACC to Bryant in the AEC) the SEC waters are a little choppier with eight other schools in this week’s top 25. That’s why, even though they lost to Duke in December, I have the Tigers at No. 1 at this point.
My biggest variances from the consensus: I have No. 19 UConn 10th on my ballot while I voted unranked Saint Mary’s at No. 16. Toughest omissions: Utah State, Wisconsin, Mississippi State, Michigan, and Ole Miss. Small school shout-outs: No. 24 Drake and No. 25 George Mason.
Going Inside: American (14-10, 8-3 Patriot League) wasn’t going to win out, but their 71-49 loss at Bucknell was a tiny bit jarring. Absent Elijah Stephens and Greg Jones (their second- and third-leading scorers), the Eagles were held to 18 points in the first half and shot 35% (5-21 from 3-point range) for the night.
The loss slices their conference lead over the Bison and Army to one game. AU split their season series with Bucknell and is 1-0 against the Black Knights with a Feb. 19 game at West Point pending. Head coach Duane Simpkins’ team tries to avoid consecutive L’s for the first time in conference play by facing the Patriot League’s three “L’s” in sequence: Saturday at Lehigh, Monday at home against Lafayette, and a week from Saturday at Bender Arena against Loyola Maryland.
Perimeter Play: VCU (18-5, 8-2 Atlantic 10) definitely doesn’t play down to its opponents. The Rams delivered back-to-back blowouts at the Siegel Center, routing rival Richmond (Spiders are tied for last in the A-10) 90-49 and ripping La Salle (4-6 in league play) 96-66.
Preseason First Team A-10 selection Max Schulga is having the season the Rams hoped for when he spurned an opportunity at Villanova last offseason, averaging 15 points with six rebounds and four assists while ranking third in the conference in steals per game.
D.C.-area fans curious about how the A-10 Player of the Year candidate affects both ends of the floor with his play will have a pair of opportunities to see the Rams: on Friday on ESPN2 as they visit a Dayton team that’s returning to the form that saw the Flyers receiving AP votes in early January, and in person at George Washington next Wednesday.
Who’s Open: On Saturday at noon, Georgetown (14-9, 5-7 Big East) faces hapless Seton Hall (6-17, 1-11) — not to be confused with lowly DePaul. The Pirates have sunk to last place behind an anemic offense that ranks last in the conference in shooting (from the field and the free throw line), scoring and field goal defense while devoting way too much time to their rebounding (the Hall ranks 10th of 11 schools in that category).
The Hoyas are trying to turn around a slide that’s seen them drop seven of nine to move from NCAA contender to pretender over the last month. While the Pirates seem ripe for the plucking the last time Georgetown hosted the Big East’s last-place team, they lost to lowly DePaul.
Last Shot: Super Bowl Sunday has Maryland (17-6, 7-5 Big Ten) meeting Rutgers (12-11, 5-7) at noon. Forget about the Jersey Mikes Arena, also known as the RAC, being a tough place to play: the Terps have dropped three straight to the Scarlet Knights at Xfinity Center dating back to 2020. Rutgers was a top 25 team in the preseason but struggled (losses to Kennesaw State and Princeton) even before taking spills in Big Ten play.
They will be bringing 6-foot-10 freshman Ace Bailey, who’s shown a high ceiling (39 points against and double-doubles against UCLA and Nebraska) as well as a low floor (10 points in a loss to Michigan, nine in a defeat at Wisconsin) this winter.
The Terps are coming off a different sort of low, wasting a 17-point first-half lead in a 73-70 loss at Ohio State. Maryland shot 25% in the second half and was outscored 23-9 over the final seven minutes of regulation. Can they bounce back?
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