The George Mason Patriots and the UMass Minutemen meet Sunday in college basketball action from Mullins Center. George Mason is sitting at 10-7 this year and took out St. Bonaventure in their last game. As for UMass, they’re currently 9-10 on the season. The Minutemen beat La Salle in their most recent outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
George Mason kicked off the season on a 7-5 run. The Patriots played just one game from December 22 to January 16 however, due to a handful of postponements. The Patriots are 3-1 in their last four with wins over Dayton, St. Joseph’s and St. Bonaventure.
Matched up against the Bonnies on Wednesday, the Patriots posted a 33-29 run in the first half and a 42-37 advantage from there in a 75-66 victory. D’Shawn Schwartz posted 20 points and four rebounds, while DeVon Cooper put up 18 points and three assists.
Over on the UMass side, they hit a 7-5 run before missing a couple weeks’ worth of action in late December. The Minutemen are just 2-5 over their last seven games. The only victories during that stretch have come over Saint Louis and La Salle.
In the La Salle game on Wednesday, the Minutemen were down 42-32 at the break. UMass posted a 45-29 run in the second half for a 77-71 comeback win. Rich Kelly managed 21 points to lead the way, and TJ Weeks doubled with 11 points and 10 boards.
The Minutemen are 22-7-2 ATS in their last 31 Sunday games and 26-9-1 ATS in their las t36 at home. UMass is 3-7 ATS in the last 10 after a straight-up win.
Meanwhile, the Patriots are 6-2 ATS in their last eight overall and 4-1 ATS in their last five after a straight-up win. The under is 8-3 in George Mason’s last 11 Sunday games.
PICK: I’m going to take a stab on George Mason. The Patriots have a couple of spotty games in their last four outings, but they’ve played well in the last pair. George Mason has hit 75 or more in each of those, and the team seems to be finding its footing after the early-January layoff. As for UMass, they’ve hit 77 or more points in two of the last three games but they’ve also given up 71 or more points in each of their last eight outings. This one has the makings of a fairly high-total game, and I think the Patriots can power out the cover/win in the end.