George Mason and Manhattan had about one day to prepare for each other entering their nonconference men's basketball game yesterday. That was enough time, however, for Manhattan to diagnose the key to stopping the Patriots -- contain junior point guard Tony Skinn.
Skinn didn't disappoint. He scored a team-high 17 points, including eight in the final 5 minutes 29 seconds, to help clinch George Mason's 78-66 victory before 7,033 at Patriot Center. The victory was the fifth in six games for the Patriots (16-10).
The game was part of ESPN's "Bracket Buster Saturday," so the teams did not find out the matchup until about two weeks ago. Each had a game Wednesday night and took Thursday off, so Friday was the only time to devote to practicing for yesterday.
"Absolutely our plan was to try and keep the ball out of Tony Skinn's hands," Manhattan Coach Bobby Gonzalez said. Skinn is so fast "it looks like he's been shot out of a cannon. . . . I think he's the key to their team. If you can take him out of the game, they're going to have trouble. But as you saw today, that is much easier said than done."
George Mason also had a pretty good idea about Manhattan (13-12). The Jaspers have made the NCAA tournament each of the past two seasons and defeated Florida in a first-round game last season. That victory led to several honors around New York, including a meeting with former mayor Rudy Giuliani and Gonzalez ringing the bell to open the New York Stock Exchange in the offseason.
The Jaspers also are considered the best college team in New York City, given that they beat Fordham by 16 this season and that St. John's is struggling.
George Mason's coaches believed the keys to Manhattan were senior forward Pete Mulligan and freshman swingman C.J. Anderson. That analysis proved prescient, as well -- each scored 25 points yesterday and combined to score 31 of the team's 36 second-half points.
That included a reverse layup by Mulligan that gave the Jaspers a 47-46 lead with 10:35 left. At that point, George Mason Coach Jim Larranaga switched to a 2-3 zone occupied by four players who were 6 feet 3 or taller. The Patriots went on a 19-7 run after switching to the zone and took a 65-54 lead following a free throw by freshman Folarin Campbell with 4:14 to play.
Manhattan missed 6 of 8 shots against the zone and did not get closer than seven the rest of the game.
"We had been practicing the zone a little," Larranaga said. "It was key, because not only did it cause them to shoot threes, which we wanted them to do, but it allowed us to give Tony Skinn a rest."
Skinn was one of four Patriots in double figures -- junior Jai Lewis had 14 points, Lamar Butler had 13 and freshman John Vaughan added 12. Freshman Will Thomas also had a career-high 13 rebounds.
"My job is to rebound," Thomas said. "I just did my job."
