Maryland basketball to host George Mason as part of nonconference schedule, per report

Maryland men’s basketball has agreed to host George Mason as part of its 2019-20 nonconference schedule, according to Jon Rothstein.

The Patriots finished the 2018-19 season with an 18-15 record and a loss in their conference tournament quarterfinals to St. Bonaventure. George Mason averaged 70.1 points per game last season, but will have to replace Otis Livingston II and Jaire Grayer, two of the team’s top four scorers. Despite finishing fifth in the conference last season, and having a young core, the Patriots were picked by A10Talk.com to finish eighth in the way-too-early A-10 rankings for next season.

Justin Kier, who was named the Atlantic 10’s most improved player in 2019, will be back next season and leading the charge for the Patriots. He led George Mason with 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while also adding 2.6 assists per game at the guard position.

This becomes Maryland’s second nonconference game reported on this week, after the Terrapins were announced to have added a home game against Rhode Island as well. In 2019-20, Maryland will also visit Seton Hall—to whom the Terrapins fell 78-72 at home this past season—and take part in the Advocare Invitational Tournament, where the field also consists of Marquette, USC, Harvard, Temple, Texas A&M, Davidson and Fairfield.

Add in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and the Terps have filled seven of their 11 nonconference slots.