Midnight madness has come and gone, and area NCAA men’s cagers are back at it. Georgetown looks to be the area’s top team this year, starting the season ranked in the top 10, while Mason hopes to keep up the momentum from their Final Four run, GW tries to make their third straight NCAA tourney after losing 4 key players, Maryland hopes not to make a third straight NIT, and the rest hope to compete in their conferences. Here’s our rundown of how the teams have done so far.
Georgetown – Most local schools have opened up with some cupcake games, but the Hoyas beat Vanderbilt fairly easily yesterday after losing to them last year. Seven foot two center Roy Hibbert and forward Jeff Green, both juniors, were the team’s top scorers last year and have taken on even more of the scoring load so far this season, averaging 17 and 18 respectively. The team faces some good squads in the next few weeks, with home games against Oregon and Old Dominion and a trip to Duke.
George Mason – The Patriots lost three starters from last year’s dream run in the NCAA tourney, and have only played one game so far, beating Cleveland State by a mere 5 points. They have a pretty tough out of conference schedule, including a rematch with Sweet 16 foe Wichita State on Saturday, as well as visits to Duke and 20th ranked Creighton. Their bench was very short in their lone game, which could make it a long year for Jim Larranaga’s team in a rapidly improving Colonial Athletic Association.
Photo of G’town at the Verizon Center by Flickr user bluebird
