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Riverdale, NY - Manhattan (0-2) hosts George Mason (2-3) in a pre-Thanksgiving tilt on Wednesday, November 25 at 7:00 pm.
TOP STORYLINES
#1 - Sophomore Calvin Crawford and redshirt freshman Samson Usilo are out for Wednesday's match-up with George Mason
#2 - A year ago, the Patriots defeated the Jaspers 64-63 on Jalen Jenkins' 75-foot heave at the buzzer.
#3 - Manhattan will be trying to avoid starting the year 0-3 for the first time since the 2005-2006 season.
QUICK HITS
* Sophomore Calvin Crawford and redshirt freshman Samson Usilo are out for Wednesday's match-up.
* A year ago, the Jaspers dropped a one-point decision to George Mason despite 18 points from senior Shane Richards and a career-best matching 15 points and seven assists from junior Tyler Wilson.
* Steve Masiello is in his fifth season at the helm of Manhattan and has compiled a 79-55 record with two MAAC Titles and three trips to the postseason. With one more win, he will become the sixth coach in school history with 80.
* This is the first of two-straight games against the Atlantic 10 for Manhattan.
* The Patriots lead the all-time series by a 4-0 count and will be making its second-ever trip to Riverdale.
* George Mason last played at Draddy Gymnasium almost 10 years ago, defeating the Jaspers 72-66 on November 26, 2005. That Patriot team would advance to the Final 4.
* DYK??? Jenkins, last year's hero for George Mason, and Wilson were prep teammates at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx.
* Jenkins paced the Patriots with 24 points while Atlantic 10 Third Team selection Shevon Thompson grabbed nine rebounds to lead the way on the glass a year ago.
* In a ironic twist, Manhattan contested first-year George Mason head coach Dave Paulson's former team, Bucknell, this past Saturday.
* The Jaspers have started 0-2 on two previous occasions under Masiello, before rebounding with victories in game three.
* Wednesday's game is the second in a tough non-conference slate that features four games against teams that qualified for the postseason a year ago, including three (Saint Mary's, Bucknell, Memphis) that participated in the NIT. Additionally, six of the nine non conference opponents have qualified for the NCAA Tournament this decade.
* LAST TIME OUT: For the second-straight game, an undermanned Manhattan team played strong in the first half before dropping an 80-67 decision to Bucknell.
* Through two games, the Jaspers are shooting 41.4 percent (24-for-58) from the floor, including 47.6 percent (10-for-21) from long range, in the first half. After halftime, those numbers drop to 29.4 percent (15-for-51), including 26.3 percent (5-for-19) from distance.
* Richards, A 2015-2016 All-MAAC Preseason Second Team selection, notched a career-high 28 points and five steals to go along with six rebounds and three assists against the Bison while playing all 40 minutes. He is second in the MAAC in scoring (25.5 ppg) while shooting 46.7 percent (7-for-15) from distance with 3.5 triples each time out.
* He has also played in 78 out of a total 80 minutes while leading the league with an average of 39.0 minutes per game.
* Richards' second-straight 20-point game gives him nine for his career while leaving him just nine shy of becoming the 37th member of the school's 1,000-point club.
* Richards, who also scored a game-high 23 at Saint Mary's, is the Manhattan single-season (92) and career (241) leader in threes and has now converted at least three triples in 51 of his 100 games and at least four 27 times. When the New York City native connects on four in a game, the Jaspers are 18-9, including 14-6 over the last three seasons.
* After failing to record a point in the opener, freshman Thomas Capuano notched 10 points off the bench against Bucknell.
* Senior RaShawn Stores returned from injury and played 21 minutes while teaming with Wilson to hand out nine assists, against just one turnover, over a combined 51 minutes of action. Stores had three assists and sank a three pointer on his only shot attempt of the second half.
* For his career, Stores, a 2015-2016 All-MAAC Preseason Third Team selection, is shooting 42.1 percent (51-for-121) on threes after halftime. Since the start of last season, he is making good on 48.1 percent (26-of-54) in the second half, including posting a 4.75 assist/turnover ratio during that sample.
* Manhattan is 36-15 over the last three years when Stores, who was granted an extra year of eligibility on July 22, 2015 by the NCAA, starts including going 17-8 last year.
* Both Richards & Stores are the only MAAC student-athletes to have played in each of the last three conference title games and have been a part of 58 total wins and are 8-1 during MAAC Tournament play.
* Junior Rich Williams had a strong game off the bench in California, finishing with a career-high matching 16 points and seven rebounds over a career-best 35 minutes. The Brooklyn native also set career-highs for free throws (6) and free throw attempts (8) after attempting just 23 free throws a year ago.
* Williams followed that up with nine points and seven more caroms against Bucknell and is averaging 12.5 points and a team-leading 7.0 rebounds each time out.
* Rounding out the double-figure scorers for the Jaspers this year is sophomore Zane Waterman, who is averaging 10.5 points and 4.5 rebounds each time out, highlighted by a career-high 14 points at Saint Mary's.
* Wilson has done a solid job of facilitating the offense, averaging a MAAC-leading 6.5 assists each time out, handing out seven in the opener before dishing out six, against just one turnover, against Bucknell. A year ago, Wilson handed out at least four assists on 13 occasions.
* Freshman Ak Ojo made his much-anticipated debut against Bucknell and finished with four rebounds and a crowd-exciting block in 10 minutes off the bench.
* Despite being saddled with injuries, Manhattan has been able to play its trademark defense to the tune of 8.5 steals and 15.0 forced turnovers per game.
* Masiello's squad led the MAAC a year ago and ranked 20th nationally with 8.0 steals per game and is 18-2 over the last two seasons when forcing at least 10 in a game, including going 7-2 a year ago. Over the last four years, the Jaspers are 29-5 when hitting the 10-steal standard.
* An offshoot of the frantic pace was that the Jaspers ranked second in the league and 49th nationally with a +1.94 turnover margin while ranking in the top-25 nationally with 573 free throws (23rd NCAA) and 829 free throw attempts (17th NCAA).
* Manhattan is 36-1 when leading at the half over the last three seasons, including going a perfect 15-0 a year ago. Additionally, the Jaspers were 16-2 in 2014-2015 when leading with five minutes to play and 12-9 in games decided by 10 points or less.
* Also over the last three years, Manhattan is 29-6 when holding teams to less than 70 points, 20-6 when limiting teams to less than 40 percent shooting, 22-6 when winning the battle of the boards, 29-12 when forcing more turnovers than the opposition.
* Last year, the Jaspers went 9-4 in the months of February and March, and are 20-6 the last two years and 28-10 since the start of 2012-2013.
* Masiello, who holds a career record of 79-55 (49-27 MAAC), set the school-record for MAAC Tournament wins a year ago with his eighth against Iona while breaking current ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla's previous mark.
* Since returning to Riverdale, Masiello has led Manhattan to two MAAC Championships as well as a pair of 20-plus win campaigns. In his first tenure, he was a part of two MAAC Championships and three 20-plus win seasons. All told, Masiello has been a member of four of the Jaspers' five MAAC Championship teams and five of their 12 20-win seasons while accruing a 162-91 record.
* In his 20th season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 440-201, including 319-173 on the sidelines, with one National Title, two National Championship appearances, two Final Four appearances, six Elite Eight berths, eight conference championships, 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and 15 20-win seasons.
SCOUTING GEORGE MASON
George Mason (2-3) returns to action after defeating Ole Miss and Oklahoma State at the Gildan Charleston Classic before dropping a hard-fought decision to nationally ranked Virginia. Freshman Jaire Grayer, the reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, leads the Patriots in scoring at 14.4 points per game while Thompson is averaging at double-double (12.2 ppg, 12.6 rpg).
KEY MATCH-UPS
Rebounding - George Mason is outrebounding opponents by 4.6 caroms each time out while Manhattan is -16.0 on the glass.
Pressure - The Jaspers are extremely active and likes to pressure the opposition, averaging 8.5 steals per game. The Patriots, meanwhile, have notched just 13 steals in five games while turning it over an average of 13.0 times each time out.
3-Point/Free Throw Shooting - Last year, George Mason didn't convert on a three pointer against Manhattan until the final 13 seconds and are making good on just 31.3 percent from long range and 55.1 percent from the line this year. The Jaspers, meanwhile, are shooting 37.5 percent from deep and a respectable 67.3 percent from the stripe.
UP NEXT
Manhattan travels to Fordham on Saturday, November 28 at 5:00 pm.
