Daunting task awaits Patriots in Buckeyes
In the locker room at Verizon Center, before 11th-seeded George Mason upset No. 1 Connecticut in the 2006 NCAA tournament, Patriots coach Jim Larranaga drew imaginary six guns and told his players that they were from the CAA — the Connecticut Assassin Association.
Whatever humorous bit of inspiration Larranaga can concoct Sunday when George Mason plays top-seeded Ohio State had better be good.
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This time, the task might be even more daunting. Ohio State will be playing 140 miles from campus and has a 33-2 record and a roster full of high school All-Americans, including freshman national player of the year candidate Jared Sullinger.
| UP NEXT |
| No. 8 George Mason vs. No. 1 Ohio State |
| When » Sunday, 5:15 p.m. |
| Where » Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland |
| TV » CBS |
Maybe Larranaga will use his go-to mantra.
“It’s not who we play or where we play,” the coach told reporters Friday. “It’s how we play.”
But Sunday might be more about how Ohio State plays. The Buckeyes, ranked No. 1 for six of the last eight weeks, have won eight straight, including a 75-46 blowout of No. 16 Texas-San Antonio on Friday. Coach Thad Matta’s team outrebounded UTSA 34-24, had 26 assists on 29 baskets and hit 56 percent from the floor and 12 of 24 shots from beyond the arc.
“Wow,” UTSA coach Brooks Thompson said. “They’re good.”
And they’re big. Ohio State will have a size advantage at all five spots. At 6-foot-9, 280 pounds, Sullinger will have 55 pounds on 6-9 center Mike Morrison, while senior Dallas Lauderdale (6-8, 255) will have two inches and 30 pounds on forward Ryan Pearson. The rest of the Buckeyes starters are 6-6, 6-5 and 6-5, leaving George Mason point guard Andre Cornelius, generously listed at 5-10, 175, with an awkward matchup.
Maybe Larranaga will issue slingshots.
“I don’t know about unbeatable,” Ohio State forward David Lighty (11.7 points a game) said. “But it’s awful hard to beat us when the offensive weapons that we have are all clicking at the same time.”
Those include Sullinger (17.0 ppg, 10.1 rpg), junior William Buford (14.5 ppg), freshman sixth-man Aaron Craft (7.1 ppg, 4.6 apg) and sharpshooting junior Jon Diebler (12.5 ppg), who is tied for fifth in the nation in 3-pointers (106) and is the lone player in the top 300 who has hit at least 50 percent of his attempts.
George Mason (27-6) will need to play better than it did Friday when it handed No. 9 Villanova its sixth straight defeat 61-57. Standout Cam Long had nearly as many turnovers (five) as points (seven) and combined with No. 2 scorer Pearson and backcourt mate Cornelius to hit just four of 22 shots.
“I have no idea” was Larranaga’s response when asked how George Mason won. “Eventually we became more aggressive with our defense and offense and rebounding.”
The Patriots trailed by 10 points in the second half but rallied behind Luke Hancock (18 points), who hit the winning 3-pointer with 21 seconds left, and Morrison (10 points, 11 rebounds), who slammed home a celebratory breakaway dunk at the buzzer.
At the press conference afterward, Morrison held up a T-shirt with the slogan “We ARE this year’s George Mason.”
The Patriots will be that Sunday if they can topple Ohio State.
