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GEORGE MASON PATRIOTS
 Coach: Jim Larranaga |  Record: 27-7

 
How they got to Indy: After knocking off Michigan State 75-65, they shocked North Carolina 65-60 by holding Tyler Hansbrough to ten points. After dominating Wichita State in the Sweet Sixteen 63-55, they pulled off an upset that will be remembered for a long time, defeating UConn 86-84 in overtime. They are in the Final Four due to a balanced inside-outside game.

Did You Know: George Mason has been to the foul line 93 times in four NCAA Tournament Games and their opponents have been to the line only 45 times.

On Offense: They have a simple offensive game plan. It all revolves around Lewis. They look for him to get touches and spot up jumpers from the guards with Will Thomas going to the offensive glass. It is a 3 out 2 in offense similar to the old days in the NBA when the ball would go to a post player and the perimeter players would just feed off the inside game. I was also very impressed with their ability to convert from defense to offense.

On Defense: Last season they were terrible on the defensive end. Their vast improvement is the biggest reason for the great success. They have done a much better job this year with their man-to-man. They are physical and quick and do a nice job with their ball pressure.

Weakness: They are very thin off the bench. They go six or seven deep so foul trouble would be devastating. They are also not a very strong free throw shooting team at 63% on the season.

Keys to beating Florida: Lewis will have to continue playing at a high level. His ability to score one-on-one in the post is what makes this team go. Their players really understand and accept what they are trying to accomplish offensively, and they have done a great job of taking care of the basketball. Defensively, their big men will have to push Florida’s interior guys away from the basket. They are not a good shot blocking team and Florida’s big men play above the rim. If they hold their own on the boards, they will be in the game. They will not quite have the resounding home court advantage that they had in DC, but they will be the fan favorites, and will need to feed off that energy.
 
2005-06 Schedule
DATE OPPONENT RESULT/TIME
11/10 UC-Irvine W 79-56
11/11 at #18 W Forest L 83-78
11/22 Creighton L 72-52
11/26 at Manhattan W 72-66
12/02 at Georgia St W 81-51
12/05 at American W 75-35
12/07 at ODU L 54-53
12/10 Radford W 81-69
12/21 Hampton W 79-66
12/27 Holy Cross W 71-38
12/30 at Miss St L 63-61
01/02 at N'eastern W 71-68
01/05 Va Common W 73-60
01/07 Delaware W 70-56
01/12 at W & Mary W 65-46
01/14 at JMU W 65-43
01/19 N'eastern W 74-63
01/21 at UNC-Wil L 69-63
01/26 W & Mary W 81-58
01/28 ODU W 66-47
02/02 at Delaware W 57-52
02/04 UNC-Wil W 69-62
02/09 at Va Common W 73-61
02/11 Towson W 65-53
02/15 Drexel W 67-48
02/18 at Wichita St W 70-67
02/23 at Hofstra L 77-66
02/25 JMU W 95-68
03/04 Georgia St W 61-56
03/05 Hofstra L 58-49
03/17 vs Mich St W 75-65
03/19 vs #12 UNC W 65-60
03/24 vs Wichita St W 63-55
03/26 vs #2 UConn W 86-84
04/01 vs #10 Florida 6:07 PM

 

  
George Mason Patriots Team Roster Stats (per game)
NO PLAYER POS HT WT YR GP MIN PTS REB AST
55 Jai Lewis F 6-7 275 Sr. 34 30.2 13.7 7.7 1.9
1 Tony Skinn G 6-1 175 Sr. 33 31.7 12.6 3.5 2.8
22 Lamar Butler G 6-2 170 Sr. 34 31.8 12.0 2.5 2.2
34 Will Thomas F 6-7 220 So. 34 31.9 11.8 7.3 1.2
42 Folarin Campbell G-F 6-4 200 So. 34 31.3 11.0 4.3 3.5
5 Gabe Norwood G-F 6-5 185 Jr. 34 20.9 3.4 2.0 1.9
50 Sammy Hernandez F 6-5 230 Fr. 34 11.4 2.8 3.1 0.5
12 Tim Burns G 6-3 185 Jr. 19 6.3 1.9 0.5 0.4
2 Jordan Carter G 6-0 170 So. 27 6.5 1.0 0.7 0.7
40 Chris Fleming F 6-8 230 Fr. 28 4.7 1.0 0.8 0.0
3 Makan Konate G-F 6-7 200 Jr. 10 2.3 0.2 0.4 0.0
24 Charles Makings G 6-2 180 Jr. 13 2.5 0.2 0.7 0.2