Mitchell Richtmyre/Fourth Estate
The Patriots defeated Coppin State after back-to-back losses with Zach Anderson reaching 1,000 career points
BY CHRISTIAN SEGOVIA, ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
After back-to-back one-point losses, Mason men’s basketball bounced back on Nov. 20 against Coppin State in a 93-55 victory. Mason graduate student forward Zach Anderson reached 1,000 career points in the second half of the game.
“The last two practices he was locked in and [it was] a big night for [Zach],” Head Coach Tony Skinn said. “1,000 points for him, that’s big…That’s something that doesn’t happen though to a lot of guys that play college basketball.”
With Mason senior guard Jared Billups out of the starting lineup due to a concussion, Anderson became part of the starting lineup for the game. Scoring 21 points and six rebounds for the night with 7-9 (77.7%) shooting from the 3-point line, Anderson was the first Mason player to make seven 3-pointers in a game since 2018.
Mason junior forward Giovanni Emejuru came off the bench and had 21 points and seven rebounds. Mason senior forward Jalen Haynes contributed 12 points and two rebounds with Mason senior guard Darius Maddox and Mason senior guard Woody Newton each scoring nine points.
In the last two games, Mason combined for 34 turnovers in their losses against East Carolina and Central Michigan. Against Coppin State, the team only had 10 turnovers.
“If there’s one thing that George Mason’s got to do better at is taking care of the basketball and boxing out and being physical,” Skinn said. “We’ve got the tools, we’ve got the personnel to do it, we’ve just got to find a will.”
Coppin State didn’t lead once during the game. Mason’s biggest lead of the night was 43 points.
Mason shot 32-53 (60.4%) from the field and 9-21(42.9%) from the 3-point line. Mason dominated the paint 42-24 and the bench outscored the Eagles’ bench 36-5.
Mason’s defense held Coppin State to 19-57 (33.3%) from the field and 4-17 (23.5%) from the 3-point line along with 17 forced turnovers.
Coach Skinn gave an update on Billups’ concussion, saying “he’s just going through concussion protocol,” and that Billups will be a game-time decision for Nov. 23. Anderson went out later with back pain in the second half but is expected to be fine.
Mason will play again on Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. against Division II Ferrum at EagleBank Arena. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and student tickets are available through Mason360.