George Mason, which hadn’t lost in a while, finally went down, for the first time, in A-10 play, losing at Rhode Island, 74-65, on Saturday.
Rhode Island (12-8, 3-4 A-10) shot 57.9 percent in the second half, and was 18-of-24 from the free-throw line in the final 20 minutes.
Kory Mincy led the Patriots (18-2, 6-1 A-10) with 19 points and six rebounds, while Jahari Long chipped in 11 points, four rebounds and two assists.
VCU (14-6, 5-2 A-10) got 20 points from Lazar Djokovic in a 75-69 win at Davidson (12-7, 4-3 A-10) on Saturday.
Terrence Hill Jr. added 14 points and four assists for the Black and Gold, while Brandon Jennings chipped in 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
NCAA resumes
Mason drops to 63 in the NET with the loss, but the Patriots have a strong 31 ranking in the RPI, and are 36 in ELO.
VCU is at 55 in the NET, 51 in RPI and 48 in ELO.
Both are on the outside looking in as far as the NCAA Tournament at the moment.
A-10 leader Saint Louis (18-1, 7-0 A-10) is at 19 in the NET, 25 in RPI and 26 in ELO.
VCU, which lost to Saint Louis, 71-62, at the Siegel Center on Jan. 7, gets another crack at the Billikens on Feb. 20 in St. Louis.
Mason gets just one regular-season game with Saint Louis, the regular-season finale, on March 7, in Fairfax.