Read below for a full Duke vs George Mason prediction and preview.
The Blue Devils return to the court for the first time since last Tuesday, when they handled business against Incarnate Word. Cooper Flagg continues to lead the charge for Duke, but both Khaman Maluach and Isaiah Evans had season-best performances. This is the fourth meeting all-time between these two programs, with this being their first matchup since December 2006 with a 69-53 Duke victory to increase the series lead to 3-0.
General Information:
Teams: Duke (8-2, 1-0 ACC) and George Mason (7-3, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
Tip time: 7 p.m. EST
Watch: ACC Network
Listen: Blue Devil Sports Network
Latest on George Mason basketball:
The Patriots, members of the Atlantic 10 Conference, are currently riding a five-game winning streak. The team is lead by senior Darius Maddox, a senior out of Bowie, MD, with 14.9 PPG. In fact, after transferring to George Mason from Virginia Tech, Maddox is averaging 14.2 PPG and 3.2 rebounds per game.
Fill in the blank: Auto______#PatriotPressure pic.twitter.com/4PA6UdDecc
— George Mason Men’s Basketball (@MasonMBB) December 7, 2024
In the team’s last game against Tulane, Maddox was one of three players to score 15 or more points. Maddox had missed the previous game with an ankle injury. Another player that helped the Patriots get back on track is senior forward Jalen Haynes. The transfer from East Tennessee State recorded his second straight double-double by scoring 15 points while adding 12 rebounds.
“I’m really proud of this team,” second-year head coach Tony Skinn said after the Tulane game. “There was a point in time early in the season where if they didn’t stick together, we could’ve really been divided, starting out 2-3 and losing two games by two total points. Sometimes that flushes you. For these guys to respond by winning five in a row, I’m proud of them.”
George Mason will be looking for their first victory over an ACC team since defeating Virginia in the 2012 season opener.
Latest on Duke basketball:
The Blue Devils, riding a four-game winning streak of their own, has been stifling opposing team’s offenses. In their first ten games of this season, only three teams were able to score over 70 points on the Blue Devils. In those games, Duke is 1-2 with the only victory coming against Auburn.
career-high 17 pts today for Man Man pic.twitter.com/BxtnhCH81I
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) December 11, 2024
Offensively, the team has only scored above 80 points once since their victory over Wofford. One of the stats that Duke allowed Incarnate Word to beat them in last week was points off turnovers. The Blue Devils scored a season-low 11 points off turnovers and allowed 15 or more points off turnovers for just the third time this season.
“We’re going to address every aspect of our defense and offense,” said third-year head coach Jon Scheyer after the Incarnate Word game. “I’ve told our team that through these first 10 games, I think that this is as exposed as we’ve been in terms of understanding our strengths and our weaknesses and what we have to improve.”
[…] high school. In the first five minutes of the second half, Flagg scored eight points to help extend Duke’s lead to 20 […]
[…] high school. In the first five minutes of the second half, Flagg scored eight points to help extend Duke’s lead to 20 […]