Feb. 4, 2008

ATHENS, Ohio-The Ohio men's basketball squad will host George Mason on Saturday, Feb. 23 in ESPN's BracketBuster matchup, the school learned Monday. The game's start time will be announced soon and the game will be televised either on ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360 or ESPN Classic.

George Mason, currently 16-6 and tied for second in the Colonial Athletic Association, will travel to Athens to face the Bobcats, who are presently 15-6, and tied for first in the Mid-American Conference. The Patriots have won six of their past seven games to improve to 8-3 in the CAA, one game behind conference leader VCU. Ohio has also won six of seven and is currently 6-2 in the MAC's East Division, tied for first with Kent State and Akron.

Ohio and George Mason have never met, but have two common opponents this year. The Bobcats defeated Kent State 71-59 Jan. 19^th in the Convo, while the Patriots lost at Kent 73-55 on Dec. 8. That same day, Ohio also defeated Delaware 78-59 in the Convo, while the Patriots dropped a 73-68 overtime decision at Delaware on Jan. 9.

Ohio is led by senior forward Leon Williams (Baltimore, Md.), who is averaging 16.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and shooting 60.8 percent from the field. George Mason is led by Will Thomas, who is averaging 16.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and is shooting 64.1 percent from the field.