Game 3: GMU (2-0) vs Catawba (0-0) on Tuesday, November 11, at 7:00 PM.

[Sport31]

I agree with Patriot 81, too much one on one tonight. Ball movement was nonexistent on some possessions. Their D was in our face most of the game. Our Defense was bad in first half,and soft. .21 turnovers against a D2 school ...ugly. Crowd was small and very quiet. On the bright side Long and Mincy were excellent on offense. Kory is a legitimate 3 PT threat.Team D is much better with Kanga in the game.

 

[Jack Strop]

Team D is much better with Kanga in the game.

...and that's why Adebayo sat on the bench for much of the second half.

 

[GM Logo Guy]

Any links to the presser yet?

 

[Jack Strop]

Any links to the presser yet?

View: https://youtu.be/akB2xErkk3k?si=miH0veBMlxBAQyLa

 

[jessej]

They announced (quietly) during the game that he is a current student.

I hope he is a much better student than DJ

 

[mshin5]

...and that's why Adebayo sat on the bench for much of the second half.

Adebayo has been a bit of a letdown so far. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt though. He just needs more time in Tony’s system.

 

[jessej]

Yes this was our students run the show game- a partnership with the Costello college of business. Compared to last years students run the show game we had 65% higher of a student attendance. Student attendance today was still lower than the last 2 games but higher than last year!

I hope you all couldn’t tell too too much of a difference between students doing a bit of the work in planning/operations compared to a regular game.

IMO
no difference in numbers but the energy was much less

 

[JimP]

Nationally ranked? They were picked 5th in their own league. I would love to take a look at your source.

Lenoir-Rhyne Tops SAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll; Preseason All-Conference and Players to Watch Announced

Lenoir-Rhyne Tops SAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll; Preseason All-Conference and Players to Watch Announced

www.thesac.com

"Power" is certainly hyperbole, but Rohland did mention that though they were picked 5th in their league, Catawba is ranked in the top 25 in D2. Maybe it's conference is the SEC of D2.

Does D2 allow schools from the SEC of the division to make March Madness with .333 conference winning percentages? One wonders.

* Looked it up. Catawba is receiving votes, but not currently in the Top 25.

 

[tblack33]

Yes this was our students run the show game- a partnership with the Costello college of business. Compared to last years students run the show game we had 65% higher of a student attendance. Student attendance today was still lower than the last 2 games but higher than last year!

I hope you all couldn’t tell too too much of a difference between students doing a bit of the work in planning/operations compared to a regular game.

I thought it was still a decent showing from students for a Tuesday night against a D3 opponent. Keep on keeping on.

 

[tblack33]

Adebayo has been a bit of a letdown so far. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt though. He just needs more time in Tony’s system.

Adebayo looks like he doesn’t know the offense. Constantly out of place, camped out in the corner when he needs to be screening or cutting, and constantly getting in the way of the ball handlers.

 

[NewPatriot]

Nationally ranked? They were picked 5th in their own league. I would love to take a look at your source.

Lenoir-Rhyne Tops SAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll; Preseason All-Conference and Players to Watch Announced

Lenoir-Rhyne Tops SAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll; Preseason All-Conference and Players to Watch Announced

www.thesac.com

Bill Roland said during the broadcast. But he was wrong. Genisys said this
."
Yes, the Catawba men's basketball team received votes in the D2 national rankings during the 2024-2025 season and participated in the NCAA tournament, but was not ranked in the top 25 of the final NABC Coaches Poll.
Catawba had a strong season, finishing with an overall record of 18-13 (.581) and a conference record of 14-10 (.583) in the South Atlantic Conference.
Key highlights from their 2024-2025 season:

• They were listed in the "Others receiving votes" section of some national polls, specifically receiving 15 points in one poll, which placed them just outside the top 25.
• Catawba earned a No. 7 seed in the Southeast Region of the 2025 DII Men's Basketball Championship tournament.
• Their tournament run ended in the first round with an 80-71 loss to the No. 2 seed USC Aiken. "

So they received votes for the D2 Top 25 but did get in.

They were #7 seed in the D2 tourney.

 

[GMUgemini]

...and that's why Adebayo sat on the bench for much of the second half.

Sounds like dog house to me (inferring from the post game). I’m going to guess Ellington is the other one not totally buying in to Skinn’s way.

Got to have at least one of them step up. We can’t run Allensbach, Sivka, and Kanga for 80 minutes (that’s both the 4 and 5 spots) every night.

 

[Pablo]

Catawba tied the College of Charleston's record for most steals (15) by an opponent at EBA - https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/...26/2025-26_Mason_MBB_Prospectus_Media_Day.pdf

"Most Steals: ................................. 15, College of Charleston, 11/25/97"

Men's Basketball vs Catawba on 11/11/2025 - Box Score - George Mason University Athletics

The official box score of Men's Basketball vs Catawba on 11/11/2025

gomason.com

Catawba 62​

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
02	Simpson,Jordan	*	25	4-12	2-8	0-0	0-1	1	0	1	0	0	3	10
04	Walker,Nick	*	21	4-10	0-0	1-2	1-2	3	4	0	1	0	1	9
12	Banks,Justin	*	19	3-7	2-2	0-0	0-1	1	2	1	0	1	1	8
01	Daniel,Carson	*	28	1-1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	3	1	1	0	4	2
05	Lindsey,LeVionne	*	24	0-2	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	1	1	2	0	0	0
03	Athie,Ibra		15	3-5	0-0	2-4	3-0	3	2	0	2	0	1	8
25	Hawkins,Jashaun		13	3-6	2-5	0-0	0-1	1	4	0	1	0	0	8
00	Daniel,Chase		13	2-3	0-0	1-1	0-0	0	4	3	3	0	3	5
11	Tucker,Solomon		16	2-4	0-0	0-1	3-0	3	3	1	0	1	1	4
15	McDuffie,Zion		14	2-4	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	1	3	2	2	1	4
24	Hilliard,Jalen		4	2-2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
22	Long,Shawn		6	0-2	0-2	0-0	0-1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
13	Gray,Alexander		2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	1-1	2	0	0	2	0	0	0
	Totals	-	200	26-58	6-18	4-8	8-8	16	24	11	15	4	15	62

 

[gmujim92]

Mincy and Long — and a soft schedule — are masking some real issues so far that probably shouldn’t be surprising when you have basically an entirely new team.

Hopefully it gets better with time and health, losing BOC in game 1 was less than ideal, but Tony and the staff are gonna earn their pay coaching up this group or they’ll get exposed against better competition.

 

[GMU79]

Mincy and Long — and a soft schedule — are masking some real issues so far that probably shouldn’t be surprising when you have basically an entirely new team.

Hopefully it gets better with time and health, losing BOC in game 1 was less than ideal, but Tony and the staff are gonna earn their pay coaching up this group or they’ll get exposed against better competition.

Let's hope it's the former and not the latter.

 

[Milt Mudflap]

I agree the energy was off, but my read was that was because Mason looked disinterested much of the game. Even when they seized control and stretched the lead out it wasn’t particularly fun to watch. A very ragged game IMO.

 

[mkaufman1]

Mincy and Long — and a soft schedule — are masking some real issues so far that probably shouldn’t be surprising when you have basically an entirely new team.

Hopefully it gets better with time and health, losing BOC in game 1 was less than ideal, but Tony and the staff are gonna earn their pay coaching up this group or they’ll get exposed against better competition.

I'm with you and I'm not worried. I know we like to complain but there is a reason why the schedule is very soft in the beginning before it ramps up more towards the middle part. Better to work your issues and win by 25 for a few games while nursing injuries than work your issues when you are playing the marquee part of the nonconf (marquee meaning ODU, JMU, VT). I'm sure the staff have those 3 games circled on the calendar as "must wins" for many reasons.

 

[jkh1978]

Sorry but when the opponent calls the game an exhibition it’s got to be hard to put all into it. It’s a marathon not a sprint.

 

[gmujim92]

Sorry but when the opponent calls the game an exhibition it’s got to be hard to put all into it. It’s a marathon not a sprint.

Agreed but our issues go beyond just one game — giving up 90 to Winthrop in Fairfax hits a little different after they only scored 66 in losing at Coastal Carolina last night.

This group has to get more connected defensively because counting on teams to miss shots or turn the ball over is not a strategy.

 

[Verdad]

Agreed but our issues go beyond just one game — giving up 90 to Winthrop in Fairfax hits a little different after they only scored 66 in losing at Coastal Carolina last night.

This group has to get more connected defensively because counting on teams to miss shots or turn the ball over is not a strategy.

Craziest thing about them scoring 90 is we held them to 38% fg and 33% on 3's, while out-rebounding them 51-30!

Ideally getting our 3 missing starters back helps with the TO's and defense.