Pearson Goes Off as Mason Handles Cougars

Final Score: George Mason 84, College of Charleston 76

Top Performers: Ryan Pearson 35 points, 14 rebounds

Sorry for the delay on this post guys. The New Year festivities had me traveling quite a bit. Having not been able to watch this game live, it's hard to watch the replay already knowing the outcome. I'll break down the game summary in bullet form.

• George Mason played hands down their best game of the season. Part of it was because of Ryan Pearson's career-best performance, part of it was because of Andre Cornelius's stabilization of the Patriot backcourt and part of it was because the Cougars shot 5 of 21 from the 3-point line. We took care of the Patriots in Fairfax two years ago, they got us this year. Great win for them.
• Points off turnovers was huge for GMU. Our 13 turnovers (including 5 from Lawrence and 4 from Wiggins) resulted in 25 points for the Patriots.
• Wiedeman struggled against that Mason front line. He got his points (15) but only collected 4 rebounds.
• Had he not picked up those two quick fouls, Adjehi could have had a breakout performance. Still, he posted a solid 12 point, 7 rebound performance. 
• George Mason shot 50% from three

Losses like this one are back breaking. Especially at home. The Cougars' at large chances were slim to none to begin with and with this loss the possibility of two Socon teams in the Big Dance is all but extinct. The sad reality of this conference is that none of these OOC games really matter anyway. The ineptitude of every team other than CofC and Davidson this year drags both these teams' Strength of Schedule to pathetic levels. 

All that matters in the end is conference play and a Socon Tournament championship. Socon play begins in earnest on Thursday for the Cougars and the level of competition is nothing compared to the likes of Louisville, Tennessee and GMU. I refuse to believe that the GMU loss was anything more than an off night for this otherwise talented CofC squad. Lets put it behind us and dominate the Southern Conference this year.