GAME NOTES: A perfect 3-0 in Colonial Athletic Association play thus far, the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens try to keep the good times rolling at the Bob Carpenter Center tonight, as they face off against the Patriots of George Mason. The Hens are the only team in the CAA that has yet to experience a conference loss and they have won two games in a row overall thanks to a 67-63 triumph against Drexel in Philadelphia over the weekend. The victory gave UD four in the last five opportunities and has drawn the squad to within a game of .500 overall at 6-7. As for the Patriots, they began 2007-08 rather quickly with four straight wins and triumphs in six of the first seven, but since then the team has taken more than a few hits. However, Saturday saw the squad log a 72-63 win over Towson at home in Fairfax, marking the team's third in the last four outings. With respect to the all-time series between these two schools, the Patriots retain a 13-5 edge over Delaware heading into this meeting. George Mason has taken five straight versus the Blue Hens and is 10-4 in the series with both schools members of the CAA.

Except for Louis Birdsong who tallied just two points in 30 minutes, every starter for George Mason hit for double figures in the win over Towson, beginning with Will Thomas who put together a huge double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds. John Vaughan added 19 points, Dre Smith had 14 and Folarin Campbell tallied 11 points in the victory, one that saw the Patriots turn the ball over just nine times. A 61.0 percent shooter from the field who is just 65.2 percent accurate at the charity stripe, Thomas has been a punishing presence in the paint for the Patriots this season, leading the team with 16.1 ppg and 9.6 rpg. Vaughan accounts for another 12.9 ppg and Campbell 12.1 ppg to go along with his team-best 44 assists. A starter in just six games, Smith checks in with 10.1 ppg as a 43.0 percent shooter from three-point range for the program.

Alphonso Dawson, who on Monday was named the CAA Rookie of the Week for the third time this season, made good on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, en route to 18 points and seven rebounds in the win over Drexel last Saturday. Herb Courtney added 14 points and seven boards and Marco Cooper 10 points and seven rebounds before fouling out. Brian Johnson had just six points, but made up for it with 11 of the team's 16 assists, while Marc Egerson came within a point of a double-double with a team-best 10 boards. Although just a 39.9 percent shooter from the floor, Courtney leads the team with his 13.3 ppg and is also among the team leaders with close to six rebounds per contest. Egerson checks in with 12.8 ppg and 6.8 rpg, yet he's shooting even worse from the field than Courtney at just 37.1 percent. Scoring only 62.6 ppg this season, the Blue Hens are getting crushed on the glass by nine per game.

The Blue Hens have escaped losing in the CAA for no other reason than the early schedule has been kind to them. That ends tonight as George Mason puts it all together and brings down the home team.