Friday, March 17th, 7:10 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Dayton Arena (13,266) -- Dayton, Ohio. Television: CBS. NCAA Record: George Mason 0-3, Michigan State 40-18. Series Record: Michigan State leads, 2-0.

GAME NOTES: For the ninth consecutive season the Michigan State Spartans will partake in the NCAA Tournament, and will open play against the 11th-seeded George Mason Patriots in the first round. The nine straight trips to the "Big Dance" is a school record for the Spartans, and is currently the longest streak compared to any other team in the Big Ten. Overall, this will be the Spartans' 20th appearance in the tournament, and in the previous 19 the team has accumulated a solid 40-18 mark, while winning the national title twice (1979, 2000). Six times the team has pushed its way through to the Final Four, and that includes last season when the team advanced to the Final Four as a fifth-seed. This year, the Spartans started and finished the season on a down note. Michigan State opened the 2005-06 campaign with losses in two of its first three games, and closed out the season, with losses in five of its last nine matchups. Despite the inconsistent play, the team comes into the tournament with a solid 22-11 record, which helped the Spartans capture the sixth-seed. As for the Patriots, this is only their fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, as the team will be looking for its first-ever victory in the postseason event. This year the Patriots advanced to the tournament as an at- large bid, which was a first in George Mason's history. The last time George Mason was in the tournament was back in 2001, but the team was quickly bounced, losing to Maryland in the first round, 83-80. The Patriots lost in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, but because the team captured the regular-season title, and posted an impressive 23-7 overall record, the Patriots became just the second team in CAA history to capture an at-large bid. Michigan State has won both meetings against George Mason, including a hard-fought 66-60 win back in 2004.

Any team will have a tough time trying to shut down the Patriots' offense, as the team currently has five players averaging double figures on the season. Jai Lewis has been a monster down low for the Patriots, scoring 14.0 ppg, while pulling down a team-best 7.9 rpg. Lewis also recorded 20 blocks and 40 steals this year. Tony Skinn and Will Thomas have also made a tremendous impact this season, as Skinn is producing 12.8 ppg and also has a team-best 50 steals, showing that the guard plays hard at both ends of the floor. As for Thomas, he is chipping 11.6 ppg, while collecting 6.9 rpg. Lamar Butler and Folarin Campbell round out the double-figure scorers with 11.4 ppg and 10.2 ppg, respectively. Campbell not only puts points on the board, but he also leads the team with 107 assists, while collecting 4.2 rpg. While five players are scoring over 10.0 ppg, the team is still only averaging 69.4 ppg, while shooting 48.4 percent from the field. The Patriots' offensive play is always receiving the attention, but teams must be prepared to face an extremely tough defense as well. George Mason surrendered just 58.8 ppg on the year, while holding the opposition to a lackluster 38.6 percent shooting effort from the floor, which includes a 31.4 percent clip from long range.

As for the Spartans, there strength is in their offensive play, as the team is averaging s solid 75.2 ppg on the year, while shooting an impressive 48.4 percent from the floor. Michigan State is one of the better free throw shooting teams in the nation, converting 77.3 percent from the charity stripe. The team is committing around 14.0 turnovers per game, and at the same time the Spartans are averaging just under six rpg more than the opposition. Maurice Ager, Paul Davis and Shannon Brown form a three-headed monster that George Mason must stop if it wishes to move into the next round. Ager does not only lead the team in scoring with 19.0 ppg, but more importantly he is the team's leader, their heart and soul, and Michigan State will only go as far as Ager takes them. As for Davis and Brown, they are both producing 17.9 ppg on the season, while Davis is also averaging a team-best 9.2 rpg to go along with 29 blocks. As for Brown, he is shooting a solid 83.0 percent from the foul line and has emerged as the team's long range threat, connecting on 40.1 percent of his attempts from behind the arc. Michigan State did struggle at times defensively during the season, but overall the team was solid, allowing just 68.9 ppg, while opponents shot a mediocre 43.2 percent from the field. The Spartans must pressure more defensively, as the team averaged just 6.4 steals per game, and 13.1 turnovers per contest.

The Spartans are talented enough to reach the Final Four, but it will be interesting to see what team shows up to play this evening. Even if Michigan State does have an off night, the team should still be able to move past George Mason into the next round.

Predicted Outcome

Michigan State 77, George Mason 63