George Mason held Davidson to 18 second-half points and 28.0 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes in a 60-52 win on Wednesday in Fairfax.
Mason (19-2, 7-1 A-10, NET: 66) avoided what would have been a Quad 3 loss to Davidson (12-8, 4-4 A-10, NET: 124).
Kory Mincy led George Mason with a game-high 19 points (7-of-12 FG, 4-of-7 3FG), with six rebounds, five assists and two steals in 38 minutes.
Fatt Hill added 14 points, with eight coming in the final five minutes.
Jahari Long chipped in 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.
“I thought this was a phenomenal collective effort from these guys tonight,” head coach Tony Skinn said. “Davidson’s played their best basketball on the road. From start to finish, in many doses, this was our best defensive effort of the season. It’s very hard to guard a team like that with all the different things that they do offensively.”
The Wildcats led 34-28 at the break, but Mason opened the second half with a 10-0 spurt to get back on top.
Davidson got back to square at 43-43 at the 12:26 mark, but back-to-back triples from Mincy pushed George Mason back up six (49-43).
From there, the Patriots held Davidson scoreless for more than seven minutes while extending the edge to nine (55-46) with 1:41 left.
NCAA Tournament resume
Quad 1: 0-1
Quad 2: 3-1
Quad3/4: 15-0
Non-D1: 1-0
Metrics
- RPI: 30
- ELO: 36
- KPI: 38
- SOR: 41
- NET: 66
- BPI: 71
- KenPom: 76
- BartTorvik: 102
Average: 57.5
NCAA Tournament seed projection: outside looking in
Key remaining games
- Quad 2: @Richmond (13-9, 3-6, NET: 125), Feb. 10
- Quad 1: @George Washington (13-8, 4-4 A-10, NET: 68), Feb. 13
- Quad 1: @VCU (15-6, 6-2 A-10, NET: 49), March 3
- Quad 1: Saint Louis (20-1, 8-0 A-10, NET: 18), March 7