George Mason Patriots vs Louisville Cardinals Box Score on Nov 12, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Nov 12, 2017

No. 16 Louisville trailed for most of the game against unranked George Mason in the Cardinals' season opener Sunday. But the Cardinals used a 12-0 second-half run and 20 points from junior wing Deng Adel to squeak past the Patriots 72-61.

In addition to Adel’s 20 points, the Cardinals (1-0) also got 17 points from Darius Perry and 10 each from Quentin Snider and Jordan Nwora. George Mason (1-1) was led by 20 points and 10 rebounds from Jaire Grayer. Justin Kier scored 18 and Ian Boyd had 12.

It was a struggle from the start for Louisville. The Cardinals missed nine of their first 12 shot, including all three three-point attempts, but only trailed 9-6 thanks to stingy defense. George Mason led 14-8 with just over nine minutes remaining in the first half until a fast break dunk by Adel sparked a Louisville run.

After Adel’s dunk, Perry hit a three in the corner and the fans stood to cheer. A rebound putback by Anas Mahmoud gave Louisville a 15-14 lead with just over seven minutes left and Snider’s fast break layup forced a George Mason timeout.

The Cardinals missed eight straight field-goal attempts after Snider’s layup as George Mason came back to lead 27-24 at halftime. Louisville hit just 8 of 28 shots in the first half and missed 9 of its 10 three-point shots.

George Mason led 37-31 four minutes into the second half and 46-40 four minutes later. Louisville scored six straight points to tie the score and then took the lead on a three from Nwora. A three by Perry put Louisville up 52-46 with 8:28 left, and the Cardinals never trailed again.

NOTES: Sunday's game was the first for Louisville's David Padgett as interim head coach. Padgett, a former assistant at Louisville, was elevated to the head coaching post when Rick Pitino was suspended and then later fired in the wake of an FBI investigation into pay-for-play deals in college basketball. ... Padgett is Louisville's third head coach since 1971, following Hall of Famers Denny Crum (1971-2000) and Rick Pitino (2001-2017) ... Louisville leads the George Mason series 4-0. The last meeting prior to Sunday was a 132-87 win in Freedom Hall on Jan. 4, 1994.