Prince William Reporter

Mason Heads to Norfolk for Wednesday Contest at ODU

 The George Mason University men's basketball team renews a historic rivalry with former conference foe Old Dominion on Wednesday afternoon in Norfolk.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Monarchs is set for 4 p.m. Wednesday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, featuring commentary from Scott Jackson and Billy Mann. In addition, Bill Rohland will handle play-by-play duties on the GoMason Digital Network, with pregame coverage will begin at 6:45 p.m. (ET).

PATRIOT POINTS
• It's Mason's first trip to Chartway Arena since 2014.

• The Patriots have won five-straight games. Most recently, the Green & Gold knocked off top-100 opponent Tulane on Saturday afternoon at Chicago's United Center.

• Mason held Tulane's top-50 offense to  a paltry 33.9 percent (21-62) for the game, including just 11.1 percent (2-18) from beyond the arc. Tulane's top-30 2pt FG offense (.562) also managed just 43.2 percent against the Patriots' stout defense.

• Graduate Victor Bailey Jr. led Mason with a game-high 19 points (7-12 FG, 5-9 3pt FG), with four of his five triples coming in the decisive second half. Bailey Jr. paces the Patriots in scoring in road/neutral affairs this season (11.8 ppg).

• Josh Oduro added 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Nine of those 12 points came in the final six minutes of action.

• With his seventh point vs. Tulane, Oduro became the 40th player in school history to score 1,000 career points in a Mason uniform. Bailey Jr. also reached the 1,000-point mark vs. UMES.

• DeVon Cooper dished out a career-best seven assists in the win over the Green Wave and added eight points and seven rebounds.

• Cooper ranks 30th nationally in career 3pt FG made (239). He has made 106 of those in a Patriot uniform.

• Senior Davonte Gaines pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds in the win over Tulane. He is averaging 11.0 boards/contest over the last two games. This season, the Patriots are 6-0 when Gaines grabs 6+ rebounds.

• Mason has held its opponent to 30 percent or less from 3pt range in nine of 11 games this season. The Green & Gold rank 17th nationally in 3pt FG defense (.273).

• During the team's five-game win streak, the Patriots have held opponents to 37.8 percent shooting overall (115-304).

• The Patriots have outrebounded their opponent in nine of the past 10 games. That prowess will be put to the test vs. ODU, which holds a +5.1 average rebounding margin. Mason is 7-2 when it outrebounds its opponent this season.

• After Wednesday's game, Mason will play five of its next seven contests inside EagleBank Arena.

HISTORY vs. IN-STATE, DIVISION I OPPONENTS
Friday's game marks the 413th all time contest for Mason against an in-state, Div. I foe. The Patriots are 192-220 (.466) vs. Commonwealth opponents over the past 57 seasons. Harkening back to its CAA history, Mason's most common in-state opponents are James Madison (49-51), William & Mary (40-28), Richmond (26-41), VCU (22-45) and Old Dominion (22-37).

HISTORY vs. SUN BELT OPPONENTS
Mason is 87-95 (.478) all time against current members of the Sun Belt Conference. The bulk of those matchups have come against former CAA programs James Madison (49-51), Old Dominion (22-37) and Georgia State (10-3). Mason's most recent meeting with a Sun Belt program came last season when the Patriots fell to ODU at home, 60-50.

HISTORY vs. OLD DOMINION
George Mason and Old Dominion, two old conference rivals, will meet for the 60th time and just the fifth occasion since Mason left the CAA at the end of 2013. Mason is 14-12 against ODU in Fairfax, 5-24 in Norfolk and 3-1 on neutral floors against the Monarchs, including a victory in the CAA Championship Game (63-58) on Feb. 28, 1999. The Patriots lost 22 of the first 23 meetings between the schools from 1978-98, but Mason holds a 21-15 edge since. Mason has won two of the past three matchups in Norfolk. The teams have met two times in the past three seasons. During the 2019-20 campaign, Mason won 60-53 on Grand Cayman en route to the 2019 Cayman Islands Classic title. Then, last season, the Monarchs picked up a 60-50 win in Fairfax on Dec. 4, 2021. Josh Oduro led the Patriots with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Mason's struggles in that one came primarily from beyond the arc, where the Patriots went an uncharacteristic 6-for-28 (.214).

A LOOK AT THE MONARCHS (7-4, 0-0 SUN BELT; NET #126, KenPom #143)
Old Dominion was picked ninth out of 14 teams in the 2022-23 Sun Belt preseason poll. The Monarchs are a solid 7-4 to begin the campaign, including a top-100 win over Furman (82-77) in the Charleston Classic. ODU is 6-0 at home so far this season. The Monarchs make their mark on the defensive end of the floor, where ODU allows less than one point per possession (0.988, 108th nationally). ODU also grabs 12.6 offensive rebounds per contest, which ranks in the top-50 nationally. Chaunce Jenkins leads the team with 12.8 points/game and shoots 49 percent from the floor. Ben Stanley adds 11.7 points and 4.5 rebounds/contest, while Tyreek Scott-Grayson is at 11.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. 

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