The Austin Peay Governors and the George Mason Patriots meet Friday in college basketball action from EagleBank Arena. Austin Peay is 1-0 so far this year after an 18-point win over Life in the opener. As for George Mason, they took out Monmouth in their first game of the year. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Austin Peay Governors 

Austin Peay is coming off a pretty disappointing campaign last year, ending up just 9-22 overall with a 3-15 result in ASUN games. The Governors ended up in last place among the conference standings (one game behind Central Arkansas) and failed to qualify for the ASUN Tournament. 

The good news for Austin Peay is that they were able to start out the season with a nice win over Life. The Governors scored 42 points in the first half and 48 more after the break on the way to a 90-72 win. Leading the scoring was Ja’Monta Black with 27 points and four rebounds. Dezi Jones put up 23 points with four assists, and Demarcus Sharp doubled up on 10 points and 10 rebounds in the victory. 

George Mason Patriots 

Over on the George Mason side, they made some improvements last year on the way to a decent 20-13 overall record and a 11-7 result in the Atlantic 10 games. The Patriots finished in fifth place among the standings, beating Richmond in the conference tournament before a season-ending loss to Saint Louis. 

George Mason started out a little slowly versus Monmouth in their opener game, heading into the break with a 29-23 lead. The Patriots scored 43 points from there however and won it 72-61. Amari Kelly (eight rebounds) and Darius Maddox (six rebounds; assist) each scored 17 points, and Keyshawn Hall brought down 10 rebounds with seven points. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll try George Mason, but I’m probably staying away. You could make a case either way in this one. The Patriots didn’t play too badly against Monmouth in the opener, ultimately bagging 46.9 percent shooting and 9-of-20 (45.0 percent) from 3-point range. George Mason was sketchy from the line (68.0 percent) but owned the rebounding 48-36 in the victory. 

As for Austin Peay, they did well in what was essentially a warmup game versus Life, shooting 47.0 percent from the floor. The Governors were out-rebounded 44-37 though, and made just half their free throws (11-of-22). I like Austin Peay to sharpen up and stay competitive here but I like the Patriots better cover-wise.