Monday’s snowstorm couldn’t cool down the Revs as men’s basketball continued their hot start to the season against George Mason, knocking off the Patriots 75-62 to move to 14-3 on the year.
With the snow falling outside of a jam-packed Smith Center with 2,585 fans — the highest attendance this season — the Revs (3-1 A-10) ran out to an 8-0 lead just minutes into the game and would lead by as much as 18 in the first half. The Revs held back a George Mason (13-5, 2-3 A-10) offensive in the second half to reach a 14-3 record for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Redshirt freshman forward Darren Buchanan Jr. led the way offensively for the Revs, scoring 21 points on 11-15 shooting from the field. Fifth-year senior guard James Bishop IV had 20 points of his own and went 8-10 from the free throw line in his 35 minutes of action.
“With two of our best players, it’s going to be hard to guard because you choose one,” Bishop said, referring to himself and Buchanan. “The other one’s gonna be open, so it’s like you’ve gotta pick your poison.”
The Revs’ defense was dominant in the first half, holding George Mason to 24 points on just 22.6 percent shooting from the field. The Patriots were only able to connect on seven shots compared to GW’s 14, which included six from 3-point territory.
But the Revs would be forced to weather a George Mason storm to start the second half, which saw the Patriots cut the GW lead down to just 5 points just under five minutes into play. This came on the heels of a 7-point run for George Mason to open the half.
Eventually, some missed shots from the Patriots and some clutch free-throw shooting from redshirt sophomore Maximus Edwards, who finished 6-6 from the line despite an otherwise quiet afternoon, allowed the Revs to pull away and pick up the victory in the “Revolutionary Rivalry.”
Outside of Bishop and Buchanan, redshirt freshman forward and reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week Garrett Johnson contributed 8 points and delivered a big three at the eight-minute mark of the second half to thwart the Patriots’ comeback attempt. For Johnson, last week’s honors marked the fourth time he had been named Rookie of the Week this season, a category that he and Buchanan have dominated.
For GW, this was the first conference game that did not either venture into the overtime period or come down to the wire, a welcome relief for the coaching staff.
“I was encouraged by the way we held that lead and, again, it’s we’re a little more comfortable in one-possession games,” Head Coach Chris Caputo said. “But I thought, part of it is when we play with the lead and you can consistently defend the way we did, we do have a lot of weapons on offense.”
Caputo said the key to the squad’s success was their strong start to the game, which he made note of pregame to his team.
“I challenged those guys,” Caputo said. “I was thinking about whether I should or I shouldn’t. But I decided to go for it. And I just challenged them a little bit about how we have to be better than the sum of our parts on that side of the ball.”
This is the third straight season where the “Revolutionary Rivalry” has taken place on MLK Day, with GW playing host back in 2022, and the game taking place in Fairfax last year, with the Revs taking both matchups.
“I think it’s great,” said Buchanan post-game when asked what this rivalry meant to the Revs. “I didn’t know too much of it before I got here on campus. So when I got here, I did my research. It’s a big rivalry game, and I know we got them at Mason, so I’m looking forward to that but I’m glad we got the first.”
With this victory, the Revs moved to 14-3 on the year and 3-1 in A-10 play. They continue conference play Saturday, Jan. 20, when they travel to Amherst, Massachusetts, to take on the UMass Minutemen at noon on ESPN+.
