GMU What!?!?

Saturday

Towson (10-20, 5-12) at George Mason (19-9, 12-5)

George Mason closes the regular season with Senior night against a sorry Towson team. Four seniors will be celebrated, John Vaughan, Dre Smith, Daryl Monroe, and Chris Fleming. Of the four, only Vaughan has really made much of an impact. Smith played 3 seasons but has struggled shooting wise all three years, Monroe played 2 seasons for Mason and Fleming has been an infrequent contributor, mostly bench player in his 4 years.

With their unimpressive win over UNCW on Wednesday, Mason clinched at least a first round bye. Mason can finish the regular season no worse than fourth, and no better than second. When Mason wins (seriously, no chance they are losing at home to Towson), if Northeastern loses to Old Dominion then Mason will finish second. If Northeastern defeats ODU, then Mason will finish third no matter what. If Mason does somehow lose and ODU beats Northeastern then Mason will finish fourth. It would be nice to be able to potentially avoid VCU until the championship game, which getting a second or third seed would guarantee. VCU scares me much more than Northeastern does.

As for this game, Mason can finish the season undefeated at home with a win. They beat Towson earlier this year at Towson, 71-59. I really hope Mason routs Towson in this one like they should so they can feel good about themselves heading into the conference tournament next Saturday.

I think Vaughan, Monroe, and Smith will play one of their better games in the year, and exit the Patriot Center in style. I think Coach Jim Larranaga will give Fleming the start and even Flem will do some damage. I expect a great night of celebration and an impressive win headed into the make or break part of Mason's season.

Prediction: George Mason 75, Towson 53