By Andrew Robinson
Everything that could’ve gone right this evening for George Mason went right. Conversely, everything that could possibly go wrong for the Explorers, went wrong.
George Mason picked up their largest victory of the season tonight with a 75-42 win over La Salle, on a night where senior Javon Greene put his name in the history books by scoring his one thousandth career point.
Greene also led Mason in scoring, chipping in 18 points to go along with 8 rebounds on the night.
“I just want to thank God, because without him I wouldn’t be able to get it. Next I want to thank my teammates because they’ve helped me throughout the whole way,” Green said.
“Coming in after practice, before practice to get shots up. I think all that helped me get to my one thousand. All the grind of four years, I’m really thankful.”
The Patriots were able to put four guys in double figures on a night where they shot 49% from the field. Sophomore Josh Oduro scored 13 points in the first half en route to a 17 point performance. Senior AJ Wilson notched a double double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, and junior forward Jordan Miller also chipped in 10 points and 8 rebounds.
“We executed the game plan. We got Josh and AJ going early, and that obviously ended up getting us open,” Green said when asked how the guards were able to feed off of the bigs. “By them dominating the paint, and doing what they had to do, it got us open shots too.”
For La Salle, it was one that they will want to quickly forget, as Mason held them to an abysmal 18-69 from the floor and 3-23 from three point range. The Patriots also forced the Explorers into 18 turnovers, and did not allow a single La Salle player to score more than 7 points.
“We played with a lot of energy, and we were able to navigate their ball screens, and get our nose back on the ball. And even when we didn’t quite get our nose back on the ball, we challenged them with some length,” George Mason Head Coach Dave Paulsen said of his team's defensive performance tonight.
“If you can set your defense in the half court, and not give up transition, and not put them on the foul line then you can have a chance.”
In addition to the stellar play of Greene, Mason was able to get huge performances from their front-court in Josh Oduro and AJ Wilson, who navigated La Salle’s 1-2-2 press to perfection, connecting on high-low passes for layups the entire night.
For Wilson, it’s his fourth game in a row scoring at least 12 points, and his contributions not only on the offensive end, but the defensive end were huge to the Patriots win tonight.
“He’s finding his footing,” Paulsen said. “Just really on the glass with 12 rebounds, blocked shots and the energy plays, I thought his energy level was really really high.”
For Oduro, it was his ability to make plays tonight that stood out the most.
“I liked that he got out in transition, he was good getting the ball around the basket, but then also good at the high post. So we just need to continue and extend that kind of performance.” Paulsen said.
The Patriots will travel to Rhode Island to face a Rams team on Saturday led by one of the most electric guards in the Atlantic 10. Fatts Russell enters the game averaging over 15 points per contest. Thus, the guards will have their work cut out for them in trying to slow down the senior guard.
However, according to Greene, they’ll be ready.
“We’ve just got to take pride on the defensive end. And guard the yard, and own our matchups,” Green said. “If we do that then we should be fine going into the Rhode Island Game.”
For La Salle, they’ll return home for a matchup against Davidson on Saturday. Tip Off is set for 2pm.