Getting off to a little bit of a late start here, but here goes nothing.
9:53 PM – If Mason keeps doubling down on Harangody, Notre Dame will continue to light it up from outside.
9:55 PM – That said, another 3 for ND from Zeller this time. 17-0 run and 16 point lead.
9:57 PM – This is about as good of a start as we could have hoped for. Mason has been really inconsistent from three point range down the stretch and they are down right COLD to start the game. We’re not giving up many good looks and GM is running down the shot clock on most possessions.
9:59 PM – Damnit, CBS switched coverage, time to load up MMOD…. Still waiting for the stupid Greg Gumble commercial to finish….
10:02 PM – Harangody is ICE COLD from the free throw line so far tonight.
10:03 PM – Did that ball come close to going off Harangody? Didn’t look like it to me.
10:05 PM – Timeout for GM. Things are starting to even out a little bit with the lead still at 16. Mason is still shooting really poorly from the field and the Irish D is really making them work for everything. I realized Marquette is a bit more athletic than Mason, but where was this defense last Thursday?
10:10 PM – Great hustle by Harangody getting the ball out of bounds off of the GM defender. With Mason shooting 20% it would be nice if we could extend this lead a little because they won’t keep shooting this poorly all night.
10:15 PM – Mason finally hits a 3 and gets within 14. ND’s gone cold from the floor over the last couple minutes. We had a real chance to put this one away early, but we’re letting Mason hang around – not really a good thing with a team like Mason. Sid note – NCAA March Madness ’08 from EA Sports looks pretty cool.
10:19 PM – GM has changed up their D a little bit and the outside isn’t nearly as wide open as it was. Luke is going to need to start taking it to Thomas and use his size advantage.
10:20 PM – Timeout Irish. Mason chipping away and now only down 12. We will have missed a GOLDEN opportunity if we let Mason pull within single digits before the half.
10:22 PM – Is “The Godfather” from the WWF the George Mason mascot? Anyway, up 12 at half-time, but should be up a lot more. Mason was shooting 20% for most of the first half but are still within striking distance – not good. After a really hot shooting start, we’ve gone cold from the outside and Harangody hasn’t been able to get much going down low. Thomas is doing a good job keeping him in check. Brey needs to find a way to get the ball inside to Harangody early in the second half.
10:32 PM – In other action, Wisconsin clings to a 2 point lead over Cal State Fulerton. Thanks Badgers, they are the team I pulled in a work pool where you only get 1 team and win the pool if they win it. Does Wisconsin ever do anything in the Tourney??? And how about Washington State? They held Winthrop to 11 freaking points in the second half and put up 70 which is above their season average. Winthrop is a pretty decent offensive team so a potential matchup with Wazzou is looking tough if we hold on here.
10:45 PM – Nice start to the 2nd half. Fast break bucket by Harangody and then a HUGE rejection by Hillesland and then another nice block by Kurz.
10:47 PM – Mason really can’t buy a three pointer tonight. They haven’t even been close on most of them.
10:48 PM – Maybe its the audio on this online feed, but it seems like theres about 7 or 8 people at the game who “thrilled” to be there.
10:50 PM – Irish offense is starting to get going again and these Coke Zero commercials are starting to get pretty annoying. As are the Sonic commercials, but that’s only because to anyone in the Northeast, Sonic doesn’t exist. It’s just a made up place that has a lot of commercials.
10:55 PM – Pretty sloppy ball handling so far in the second half. Meanwhile, Tory Jackson starts to take over with a big block and then a drive down the court ending with a dish to ‘Gody for a dunk. How the hell wasn’t he even a Honorable Mention for All Big East this year? And on cue, Jackson makes a sick no look pass to Luke…. if only Luke was looking for it.
11:00 PM – Harangody is settling for jumpers too easily. He outweighs Thomas by at least 20 lbs and needs to take it inside more. Thomas is the only offensive threat for Mason tonight – if Luke were to get him in foul trouble, it would be over.
11:07 PM – Up 19 now at 55-36 and looking GOOD. Mason probably has one more run left in them, but if we can weather that, this one looks to be in hand.
11:12 PM – Too many offensive rebounds for Mason the last couple of minutes. Both teams look like they are getting fatigued.
11:23 PM – Smart play by Ayers passing up the wide open 3 that early in the shot clock. ND ran an additional 20-25 seconds off the clock because of it. Very smart play. Kind of like the opposite of Darius Walker running out of bounds on the final drive against USC in 2005.
11:28 PM – I have yet to see a commercial for the Pontiac G8 that doesn’t make me want to run out and buy one immediately. If you guys could click on some banners and buy some hats and jerseys so that happens sooner, that would be great.
11:35 PM – Irish win. I randomly get shown a G8 ad during the Mike Brey post game interview. Marketing works too well on me.
