Oregon St. Attempts To Bounce Back Against George Mason

Oregon St. (6-3) vs. George Mason (5-5) / Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu, HI / 9:30 AM HST (11:30 AM PST) / ESPNU / KEJO 1240 AM / KEX 1190 AM

Game Notes / George Mason Basketball Page

Oregon St. and George Mason open day 2 of the Diamond Head Classic, playing in the "losers" bracket, after both teams dropped their opening games by double digit margins.

It's the first time the Patriots and the Beavers have played each other.

The Patriots, who are new to the Atlantic 10 13 Conference (which has no teams below .500 at this point) this year, dropped a 79-67 decision to 17th ranked unbeaten Iowa St. in the tournament opener. George Mason has now lost 3 in a row, and 5 of their last 6, after opening the season with 4 straight wins.

The Cyclones (9-0), who lead the nation in both scoring and assists, had 4 players well into double figures in the win, which were too many points for a team barely ranked in the top 300 in the country in scoring to overcome.

George Mason's only starter in double figures was guard Byron Allen, the Patriots' second leading scorer on the season, with 14. Season scoring leader Sherrod Wright, who averages 16.3 points per game, was held to just 2 points.

The Patriots were actually led by guard Patrick Holloway, who came off the George Mason bench for 19 points.

George Mason moved up from the Colonial Athletic Association to the Atlantic 10 16 13 Conference this year, after that circuit lost several other teams to yet higher levels of competition. The Patriots went 22-16 last year, reaching the CBI tournament championship, where they lost 2 of 3 games to Santa Clara. George Mason posted a 10-8 league record, which tied for 5th in the CAA.

The Patriots claim to fame of course, is their run to the 2006 NCAA Final 4. George Mason was last in the NCAA Tournament in 2011.

Oregon St. got 20 points from Roberto Nelson, but no second half field goals, and only 10 points from Devon Collier, who didn't score from the field until the last 3 minutes of the game, as the Beavers fell to Akron 83-71.

Akron zipped out to a 10-0 lead, and held a 16-2 early advantage, and though Oregon St. got within 1 point on Nelson's 3 pointer at the first half buzzer, the Zips led wire to wire.

A big factor in Oregon St. losing the game was the loss of Angus Brandt, who reinjured his right knee, the same one that he suffered a season ending knee injury to last year. Brandt went down after contact a minute into the second half, and had to be helped to the locker room.

Brandt didn't return to the game, instead getting an MRI. The good news is the injury is not as serious as initially feared. Brandt was on crutches, with his knee wrapped Sunday night, and will not play in today's game, but his status is day-to-day going forward.

Daniel Gomis, who had his career best game, with 9 points, yesterday off the Beaver bench, will start in place of Brandt.

Oregon St. is the designated home team, vs. being the "visitor" yesterday, and will wear their white uniforms today.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com