Ringing in the New Year means that all 32 conferences are finally in session. I know many leagues begin play at the start of December, but once January kicks in, most schools go all-in with non-conference affairs few and far between.
Over the next two months, teams will learn if all of their offseason work — from recruiting to transfers to preseason preparation — was good enough to deliver a season worthy of expectations. The beauty of conference play is you often only learn the answer to that question one game at a time.
George Mason began Atlantic 10 play by hosting the conference’s 2022 champs, the Richmond Spiders, and treated fans at Eagle Bank Arena to 40 minutes of nip and tuck conference basketball, holding the Spiders to just a pair of baskets in the final 4:51 of regulation as junior guard Ronald Polite III’s layup with 3:51 left gave Mason the lead for good in a 62-58 win. Polite missed a pair of games in the Paradise Jam Tournament — both losses — with injury and has averaged 12 points with four assists in the eight games since returning to the lineup. Coach Kim English’s Patriots have won seven of those eight games.
“I’m really proud of our guys’ grit and fight. I really know how potent their offense can be, and we wanted to come into this game with the intention of making this a defensive game,” English said. “It didn’t start that way but the second half absolutely was, holding them under 40% (shooting) in the second half which is our goal. Really proud of our guys for stepping up.”
Big steps are more often than not the collection of little steps. Last season, George Mason made a big splash in November with a win at then-No. 20 Maryland only to lose that momentum a few nights later with a 67-64 loss at James Madison. Close losses — Mason went 6-11 in games decided by six points or fewer — was the rule and not the exception for English in his first year at the helm, and he made a point to underscore how big the little things wind up being.
“I had it listed on my board in the offseason. I looked at every one of those scores every day: South Dakota State, James Madison, Washington, Richmond, GW, La Salle, Fordham, Saint Louis. Every single game,” said English. “These are the games you live for — blowouts are few and far between … these are the games where you earn your stripes as a player and a team.”
This year’s team is 3-2 in two-possession games so far this season, and the next question on their 18-game conference exam is Wednesday at St. Bonaventure.
This week’s Starting Five
Up Top
Purdue is my first No. 1 team in 2023. On Monday, the Boilermakers rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit but still fell to Rutgers at home 65-64 on a 3-pointer by (Loyola Maryland transfer) Cam Spencer with 10 seconds left in regulation. So there will likely be a new top ranked team next Monday. Rounding out my top five are Houston, Arizona, Kansas and Texas with UConn dropping from second to sixth after losing to Xavier.
The Musketeers are No. 14 on my newest ballot while my two biggest variances from the national consensus is Duke at No. 21 (they’re 16th) and Kentucky No. 22 (they’re unranked-29th if you will). Small school shout-outs go to No. 24 San Diego State and No. 25 Charleston while tough omissions include Ohio State, Iowa State, LSU and Kansas State.
Going Inside
Georgetown is now 0-4 in Big East play after Sunday’s 80-51 loss to Butler. While their losses to current Top 25 teams Xavier and UConn could be foreseen and even stomached as part of the growing pains of having 10 new players on the roster, the defeats to DePaul and Butler (a combined 0-6 in non-Georgetown Big East games) had to be somewhat discouraging. They trailed the Bulldogs Sunday by eight at the half before Butler began the second half on a 24-9 run. They’re also going to be minus Jay Heath for the next month after the guard had hand surgery. Over the next two weeks they play three games against two schools (Villanova and Seton Hall) in the first year of coaching regimes.
On the Perimeter
Virginia Tech (11-3) began the season with a bang, beating the likes of preseason No. 1 North Carolina in their ACC opener and reaching the lower limits of the AP Top 25. After last year’s surprise run to the ACC Tournament title — with four wins in four days — it looked like Mike Young’s team was in line to make another leap. But unfortunately, the road in league play can be rough and the Hokies dropped consecutive games away from Blacksburg at Boston College and Wake Forest. The good news is they won’t be facing a ranked team for another two weeks — Virginia — but the bad news is they face Clemson, unbeaten in the ACC, Wednesday.
Who’s Open
American (10-3, 2-0 Patriot League) has already equaled last year’s 10 wins and they’re doing it with defense, allowing just 61.7 points per game, which is best in the conference. They’re also second in the PL in shooting and third-best from 3-point range. Coach Mike Brennan’s best teams have boasted balance and right now, he has six players averaging between 8.0 and 13.8 points per game. Johnny O’Neill tallied 21 points and eight rebounds in the team’s win over Loyola-Maryland Monday. Two tests in the next week include Thursday at Holy Cross — Crusaders boast the conference’s top scorer and rebounder in Geralle Gates — and Sunday against Boston University — Terriers were picked 2nd in the Patriot League preseason poll.
Last Shot
Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., Maryland meets No. 24 Ohio State. Both teams played on New Year’s Day and saw drastically different results as the Terps fell behind Michigan 27-4 on their way to defeat while the Buckeyes began their game against Northwestern on a 32-8 run on their way to victory. OSU brings a formidable frontcourt to Xfinity Center with 6-foot-8 Zed Key — sixth in the Big Ten in rebounding — plus freshman Brice Sensabaugh and senior Justice Sueing. In the Terps’ favor is that the Buckeyes will be coming off of a game against No. 1 Purdue.
