It's a double-screen Saturday for me, as the NFL unwisely decided to schedule the first home playoff game in 25 years for my Bills overlapping with the Spiders-Patriots matchup.
Anyway, the Patriots of Fairfax currently sit at #191 in the NET and #141 in KenPom with a record of 4-4 against D-1 competition plus a 1-point win over D-II Queens in their opener. No notable wins really...their best is a double-OT comeback win over UMass. Otherwise they've racked up wins over bad teams in Howard, VMI, and Towson.
It's tempting to say their best game so far was actually their 66–61 loss to VCU on Wednesday, but the game wasn't quite as close as it appears. VCU had a double-figure lead for much of the second half before GMU was able to chip away a little bit in the last couple of minutes. They never got closer than the final margin though.
Jordan Miller is leading their leading scorer on the wing at 16 a game. He's had a couple of big games this year. He and two freshmen were also suspended a couple of games for violating team policies. Otherwise GMU is a pretty balanced team with 6 other guys getting 20-30 minutes per night. Freshman Tyler Kolek has jumped right into things at guard, and we saw last year what Javon Greene can do. Let's not let him score 39 against us again.
On offense, they're not a great three-point shooting team. Miller hit an incredible 8-of-10 against Howard, but he's only made three other triples all season and didn't even attempt any against VCU. Kolek is their main outside shooter, and he's hitting 37% from outside. He typically takes half a dozen or more from out there. Inside, Mason doesn't go real big but they're pretty decent rebounders. Oduro is their main big man averaging 10 and 5, with AJ Wilson averaging 8 and 5.
On defense, they don't defend the three very well, allowing opponents to shoot nearly 39%, so hopefully Gilly, Blake, and Burton can get it going from outside. They don't give up a lot of offensive rebounds, and they get a good share of blocks and steals.
KenPom predicts a 76–70 Spider win.
UR game notes:
Anyway, the Patriots of Fairfax currently sit at #191 in the NET and #141 in KenPom with a record of 4-4 against D-1 competition plus a 1-point win over D-II Queens in their opener. No notable wins really...their best is a double-OT comeback win over UMass. Otherwise they've racked up wins over bad teams in Howard, VMI, and Towson.
It's tempting to say their best game so far was actually their 66–61 loss to VCU on Wednesday, but the game wasn't quite as close as it appears. VCU had a double-figure lead for much of the second half before GMU was able to chip away a little bit in the last couple of minutes. They never got closer than the final margin though.
Jordan Miller is leading their leading scorer on the wing at 16 a game. He's had a couple of big games this year. He and two freshmen were also suspended a couple of games for violating team policies. Otherwise GMU is a pretty balanced team with 6 other guys getting 20-30 minutes per night. Freshman Tyler Kolek has jumped right into things at guard, and we saw last year what Javon Greene can do. Let's not let him score 39 against us again.
On offense, they're not a great three-point shooting team. Miller hit an incredible 8-of-10 against Howard, but he's only made three other triples all season and didn't even attempt any against VCU. Kolek is their main outside shooter, and he's hitting 37% from outside. He typically takes half a dozen or more from out there. Inside, Mason doesn't go real big but they're pretty decent rebounders. Oduro is their main big man averaging 10 and 5, with AJ Wilson averaging 8 and 5.
On defense, they don't defend the three very well, allowing opponents to shoot nearly 39%, so hopefully Gilly, Blake, and Burton can get it going from outside. They don't give up a lot of offensive rebounds, and they get a good share of blocks and steals.
KenPom predicts a 76–70 Spider win.
UR game notes:
