George Mason continued its Cinderella run through the NCAA tournament last night, earning a berth in the quarterfinals with a 63-55 win over Wichita State at Verizon Center.
George Mason came out hot, jumping to a 9-0 lead. They rode superb three-point shooting from Folarin Campbell, Tony Skinn, and Lamar Butler to 36 points in the first half, while putting together a stout defensive effort that held the Shockers to just 19 points on 30 percent shooting. In the second half, the Patriots cooled off and the Shockers warmed up, but GMU remained in control the whole way and despite poor free-throw shooting down the stretch, won comfortably.
Unlike their first two games, the Patriots were actually favored in this one, despite their opponents’ having a better seed. Chalk that up the location of the game, and the fact that GMU won an earlier meeting between the two teams this season. That home court advantage will not be enough, however, to make them a favorite in their next game, against top-seeded Connecticut. The Huskies got late-game heroics from Marcus Wiliams and Rashad Anderson to earn a come-from-behind, 98-92 overtime win over Washington. UConn — the most talented team in this year’s tournament — has been inconsistent in the postseason, seemingly playing just well enough to win their first three games.. On paper, they should beat George Mason, but paper hasn’t stopped the Patriots yet.
Improbably, George Mason is now the only local team still alive in this tournament, as Georgetown fell to Florida 57-53 in Minneapolis. The Gators scored the final five points of the game, as the Hoyas’ Darrel Owens just missed an open three-pointer that would have put his team ahead by one in the final seconds.
Georgetown jumped out to an early nine-point lead, but a young Florida team wasn’t discouraged and trailed by just two at halftime. Then, they put up the first eight points of the second period. Georgetown came back despite foul trouble for Jeff Green, and the teams traded the lead back and forth. The game was close the whole way and one or two plays decided it. Unfortunately for Georgetown, they didn’t make those plays, and Florida did.
AP Photo by Haraz N. Ghanbari
