1996–97 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team

1996–97 George Mason Patriots men's basketball
1996–97 George Mason Patriots men's basketball
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Record	10–17 (4–12 CAA)
Head coach	Paul Westhead (4th season);
Home arena	Patriot Center
	Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 CAA men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Old Dominion †	10	–	6	.625	22	–	11	.667
UNC Wilmington	10	–	6	.625	16	–	14	.533
East Carolina	9	–	7	.563	17	–	10	.630
VCU	9	–	7	.563	14	–	13	.519
William & Mary	8	–	8	.500	12	–	16	.429
James Madison	8	–	8	.500	16	–	13	.552
American	7	–	9	.438	11	–	16	.407
Richmond	7	–	9	.438	13	–	15	.464
George Mason	4	–	12	.250	10	–	17	.370

† 1997 CAA tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 1996–97 George Mason Patriots Men's basketball team represented George Mason University during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was the 31st season for the program, the fourth and final under head coach Paul Westhead. The Patriots played their home games at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia.

Honors and awards[edit]

Colonial Athletic Association All-Conference Team

Nate Langley

Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie Team

Ahmad Dorsett

Colonial Athletic Association All-Defensive Team

Nate Langley

Player statistics[edit]

Player	GP	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Nate Langley	27	.428	.299	.669	4.9	2.4	3.0	0.4	20.9
Demetrius Somerville	10	.444	.425	.833	1.7	1.6	0.8	0.2	12.6
George Redd	27	.441	.293	.675	7.4	0.9	1.3	0.1	11.8
Avery Carey	27	.449	.338	.698	4.9	1.3	1.0	0.4	11.1
Contrell Scott	27	.388	.266	.745	2.9	4.7	1.9	0.2	9.9
Nik Mirich	26	.429	.235	.627	5.5	1.0	0.6	0.8	5.2
Kevin Ward	23	.404	.750	.704	3.6	4.8	0.3	0.0	4.8
Ahmad Dorsett	27	.379	.191	.556	1.5	0.9	0.9	0.1	4.6
Bernard Wanjara	24	.486	.000	.611	4.5	0.2	0.4	0.3	3.8
Leighton Henry	24	.375	.240	.385	1.5	0.3	0.3	0.1	2.0
Lee Brown	20	.341	.182	.700	0.4	0.8	0.4	0.0	1.9
Michael Sharp	25	.423	.000	.385	2.2	0.1	0.4	0.4	1.1
Shawn Woods	4	.500	.000	1.000	0.5	0.0	0.3	0.0	1.0

Schedule and results[edit]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 23, 1996*		Alabama State	W 97–66	1–0	Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
November 30, 1996*		Virginia	L 93–106	1–1	Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
December 3, 1996*		Morehead State	W 107–98	2–1	Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
December 7, 1996*		Colorado	W 85–81	3–1	Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
December 10, 1996*		at Long Beach State	W 78–70	4–1	The Pyramid Long Beach, CA
December 14, 1996*		at Ohio State	L 72–102	4–2	St. John Arena Columbus, OH
December 20, 1996*		St. Francis (PA)	W 96–95	5–2	Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
December 29, 1996*		at Akron	L 86–99	5–3	James A. Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
CAA regular season
January 2, 1997		VCU Rivalry	L 70–75	5–4 (0–1)	Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
January 4, 1997		at UNC Wilmington	W 63–59	6–4 (1–1)	Trask Coliseum Wilmington, NC
January 6, 1997		at East Carolina	L 74–80	6–5 (1–2)	Minges Coliseum Greenville, NC
January 8, 1997		Old Dominion	L 85–94	6–6 (1–3)	Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
January 13, 1997		at James Madison	L 80–85	6–7 (1–4)	JMU Convocation Center Harrisonburg, VA
January 15, 1997		Richmond	W 98–86 ^OT	7–7 (2–4)	Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
January 18, 1997		at American	L 75–84	7–8 (2–5)	Bender Arena Washington, DC
January 25, 1997		William & Mary	W 70–67	8–8 (3–5)	Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
January 29, 1997		at VCU Rivalry	L 77–90	8–9 (3–6)	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, VA
February 1, 1997		East Carolina	L 81–85	8–10 (3–7)	Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
February 3, 1997		UNC Wilmington	L 61–81	8–11 (3–8)	Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
February 5, 1997		at Richmond	L 69–86	8–12 (3–9)	Robins Center Richmond, VA
February 8, 1997		James Madison	L 63–67	8–13 (3–10)	Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
February 12, 1997*		at Alabama State	L 79–81	8–14	Dunn–Oliver Acadome Montgomery, AL
February 15, 1997		William & Mary	L 85–89	8–15 (3–11)	William & Mary Hall Williamsburg, VA
February 22, 1997		at Old Dominion	L 62–85	8–16 (3–12)	ODU Fieldhouse Norfolk, VA
February 25, 1997		American	W 79–70	9–17 (4–12)	Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
1997 CAA tournament
February 28, 1997	(9)	vs. (8) Richmond First Round	L 57–85	9–18	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, VA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

References[edit]

v t e George Mason Patriots men's basketball
Venues	EagleBank Arena (1985–present)
Rivalries	George Washington VCU
Culture & lore	History The Patriot
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics