George Mason Pulls Away From Massachusetts, 73-63

FAIRFAX, Va. – Carl Pierre had a team-high 23 points and freshman Tre Mitchell recorded his second double-double of the season (14 points, 12 rebounds), but George Mason (13-6, 2-4) used a pair of 12-2 second half runs and got 32 points from Javon Greene to pull away from the Minutemen (7-12, 1-5) on Wednesday night at EagleBank Arena, 73-63.

As a team UMass was 10-of-27 from deep, its most makes from three since Dec. 30, and shot 39% overall (21-of-54). The Patriots, meanwhile, were 23-of-60 from the floor and 3-of-13 from three, hitting two of their final three attempts from beyond the arc. Greene was 9-of-17 from the floor and deadly from the line, going 13-of-16 for a Mason team that was 24-of-29 as a team from the stripe.

After Mitchell was sent to the bench with his third foul just 12 seconds into the second half, Pierre turned it on for the visitors with 18 second half points, including five straight early to put Massachusetts up 34-31. Pierre finished the night 7-of-13 overall and 5-of-10 from three.

The UMass lead would get up to as many as nine with 13 minutes to play, but George Mason wouldn't go away and used a 12-2 run over three minutes to retake the lead with less than 10 minutes left, and extended it to 10 points with four minutes left after an 8-0 run, with four points coming from Josh Oduro. Oduro finished with 11 points after entering the game averaging 3.5 points per game.

The resilient Minutemen kept battling to get the deficit down to as little as six points with 2:50 to go, but the Patriots were able to salt the game away down the stretch with free throws, finishing the game 24-of-29 at the line.

After both teams opened the game a combined 3-of-14 from the floor, the Minutemen rebounded with a 22-12 run over the final eight minutes to close the first half up by three, 29-26.

Mitchell led the way with seven points and six rebounds in 14 minutes of action while Massachusetts shot 54.5% from three (6-of-11), including a pair from Pierre and Santos to help UMass grab its first lead of the night late in the half. At the other end, Greene paced the Patriots with 11 points in the first on 3-of-7 shooting.

The Minutemen will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when UMass returns home to host Duquesne at 2 p.m. on NESNplus.

Tickets for the 2019-20 UMass men's basketball season are now on sale for all remaining home games in the Mullins Center. Tickets can be purchased now online through the UMass Athletics Ticket Central page, by calling the ticket office at 866-UMASS-TIX, or by visiting the Mullins Center Box Office.

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Team Stats

Carl Pierre

Tre Mitchell

Dibaji Walker

Preston Santos

Players Mentioned

Tre Mitchell

Carl Pierre

Players Mentioned

Tre Mitchell

Carl Pierre

Scoreboard

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