The long holiday weekend meant lots of local hoops action to go around for fans of every school. I spent the weekend in Philly, where Villanova has taken over the headlines from the rudderless 76ers. The Cats beat #1 UConn earlier in the week but were determined not to overlook Georgetown on Sunday, especially since the Hoyas also have a win over #1 to their credit this season. Unfortunately Georgetown couldn’t match the energy and intensity from ‘Nova’s four guard line up, to the tune of a 75-65 G’town loss. The Hoyas have now lost three straight with three games left to play in the regular season. They host Rutgers and Syracuse this week and travel to South Florida early next week. The Hoyas dropped six places to #23 in this week’s ESPN/USA Today poll.
Speaking of polls, who’s that we see at #25? It’s the George Mason Patriots. The Patriots rode a late three pointer by Tony Skinn to a 70-67 win at Wichita State on Saturday night and their first ever national ranking. Don’t look now but George Mason has won eight consecutive games and 14 of their last 15. Skinn led the team with 23, but got help from Jai Lewis, who chipped in with 16. Mason has two games left in its regular season slate, at Hofstra and hosting James Madison. A win at Hofstra (20-5 overall, 12-4 in the conference) will go a long way in giving the Patriots the CAA regular season title.
(Image via GoMason.com)
