#607/608 ASA PLAY ON Under 131 Points – George Mason vs St Joes, Saturday at 3:30 PM ET - This game sets up to be a slow paced, defensive battle. These 2 met once this season in a game that had only 57 possessions in a 58-57 win for George Mason. In a game that low scoring, you’d expect the teams simply shot terrible but that wasn’t necessarily the case. They combined to make 43.6% and 36% from beyond the arc yet they still only reached 115 total points. Defense is the strength of both as they rank in the top 25 in eFG% defense overall and if we narrow that down to top level competition (top 125 teams) they are still both ranked in the top 50. They allow 68 and 63 PPG on the season ranking them both in the top 75 in the country. St Joes topped Dayton yesterday 73-68 in OT but at the end of regulation it was tied at 60-60. George Mason faced off vs George Washington and held the Revolutionaries to just 65 points. Mason put up 80 on 1.24 PPP which is WAY above their season average in A10 play of 1.02 PPP. In their meeting vs St Joes this season, the Patriots averaged 1.00 PPP and we’d look for something closer to that today rather than their outlier yesterday. Both these defenses make teams work deep into the shot clock with GM allowing a shot every 18.4 seconds (329th) and STJ allowing a shot every 17.8 seconds (229th). Both rank in the top 95 in 3 point FG% allowed (GM is 20th) and neither sends their opponent to the FT line at a high rate (42 and 105th in opponent FT attempts per game). Tired legs could be a problem today for shooters with STJ playing their 3rd game in 3 days and GM playing the 2nd of back to back. This sets up to be a very low possession, low scoring game. Under.