Keith's Keys to the Game: GMU vs. Northeastern

George Mason (7-7) squares off Thursday night in Boston against conference foe Northeastern(2-12). Both teams come in riding similar slumps, each having lost the last 6 of 7 games and looking to break those streaks and improve their conference records.

What to Watch For:


Mason is coming off a loss to #21 Delaware at home, but were able to give the Blue Hen's one of their most competitive matches in recent months. This was in part due to the Patriots being able to shoot 40% from the field in the first half against a tough defense, and also by the resurgent scoring of Taleia Moton who dropped 30 points in the game while shooting 50% from the field. But once again old problems crept up on the Patriots, and they will need to fix these problems before they face the Northeastern Huskies.

Mason will absolutely need bench production. The Patriots will have to get more then 5 points in 56 minutes of playing time from the bench, in which is all they got against #21 Delaware. Northeastern has seven players that average over 5 points per contest in contrast to Mason's five players, and this figure shows the Huskies have a number of players who can shoot from the floor. Mason did a great job against Delaware to shut down their role players, but allowed their All-American forward Delle Donne to absolutely dominate play on the court and drop 40 points. Mason will have to strive to play defense across the board and not let Jewel Tunstull of Northeastern, who comes in averaging 13 ppg on 62% shooting from the field,  from dominating  play.

For Mason to secure a victory on the road, it will be important for the Patriots to come out the gates hot and open up a big lead early in the first half of play. So far this season Northeastern is being dominated and outscored in the first half by its opponents with a margin of 394 to 513, a deficit of -119 points just in the opening 20 minuets. Mason on the other hand is only being outscored by a margin of -4 compared to it's opponents, while the Patriots have outscored their opponents by a margin of +7 in the second half on the course of the season. If Mason is able to build a decent lead in the first half, Northeastern has shown over the  season so far that they are very unlikely to be able to overcome a large deficit especially in the second half of play.

In order for Mason to build up this first half lead they will need to focus on two things, rebounding and turnovers. The Huskies only come into tonight's game averaging 33 rebound a game, compared to Mason's 38 per game. Their should be an emphasis on Evelyn Lewis and Janaa Pickard to really push down low and try to fight hard for rebounds against the tall, but poor rebounding Notheastern forwards and guards. Other then the 6'3 Jewel Tunstull, who averages 7 rebounds a game, only 1 other player averages more then 4 rebounds.

As far as turnovers go, the Huskies have had trouble controlling the ball and it has lead to some recent close defeats. Against  CAA foe UNCW, Northeastern committed 23 turnovers in a 7 point defeat. It will be pertinent for two of the best defensive guards in the CAA, Rahneeka Saunders and Taleia Moton, to up the defensive pressure and force the Huskies into committing their season average 20 turnovers per contest and to then capitalize by scoring on those opportunities.

It will be key to see some significant bench production, in the upwards of +10 points, to help secure the victory tonight. And it wouldn't hurt if Taleia Moton kept up her average by dropping 21 points, but this team needs a balance in order to be successful going forward.

Tip-off is at 7 pm in Boston. Mason, 1-2 in conference play, look to improve to .500 and break a season high 4 game losing streak against the lowly Huskies who are 0-3 in the CAA. Mason (7-7) defeated  Northeastern (2-12) in their last match-up in March 2011 at home by 22 points.