Loyola Chicago forces 17 George Mason turnovers, which prove costly in Patriots’ loss

George Mason shot nearly 60 percent from the field, but costly turnovers proved to be the difference in an 85-79 loss to visiting Loyola Chicago on Wednesday night inside EagleBank Arena.

The Patriots (15-8, 4-6 A-10) made 59.5 percent of their field goal attempts (22-of-37) and shot 52.9 percent from deep (9-of-17) while holding a +6 edge at the free throw line.

But the Green & Gold turned it over 17 times, and Loyola (16-7, 8-2 A-10) posted a +13 (19-6) advantage in points off turnovers for the game.

Mason led 44-36 at the break after limiting the Ramblers to 37.5 percent shooting in the first half. But Loyola went 15-of-21 (.714) in the second half while holding a 49-35 scoring edge.

“Any time you have a chance to bounce back at home, you have to come out tough,” Mason coach Tony Skinn (’06) said. “I thought for maybe two thirds of the game we had a tough spirit, but then we lost it. If you don’t think toughness is that important, you get punked, and that’s what happened tonight.”

Sophomore Keyshawn Hall led the Patriots with his eighth 20+-point game of the season. The Cleveland, Ohio, product tallied a team-best 20 points (5-of-7 FG, 10-of-11 FT) to go along with a game-high eight rebounds in 37 minutes.

Senior Darius Maddox added 18 points (6-of-12 FG, 4-of-7 3FG) and three rebounds, while freshman Baraka Okojie put together another excellent performance with 15 points (10-of-14 FT), two assists and two steals.

Graduate forward Amari Kelly chipped in 12 points (4-of-5 FG, 2-of-3 3FG) and seven rebounds in 37 minutes.