George Mason vs Rhode Island Prediction College Basketball Picks 1/4/25

The George Mason Patriots and the Rhode Island Rams meet Saturday in college basketball action from Ryan Center. Here’s a George Mason vs Rhode Island prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best George Mason vs Rhode Island pick. We will examine:

The George Mason Patriots’ recent form and player performance

The Rhode Island Rams’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the George Mason Patriots

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Rhode Island Rams

Recent betting trends in games played between George Mason and Rhode Island

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the George Mason vs Rhode Island game

George Mason Patriots Betting Preview

The Patriots kicked off the season on a pretty rough run over their first five games, going just 2-3 in that quintet of outings. The victories in that time were over North Carolina Central and Stony Brook. Otherwise, it was losses thanks to Marquette, Central Michigan, and East Carolina. Since then George Mason has been on a nice 8-1 stretch, though. The lone loss came versus Duke on December 17. Otherwise, it’s been wins over Coppin State, Ferrum, James Madison, UNC Asheville, Tulane, Pennsylvania, Mount St. Mary’s, and Davidson in that time.

Back on New Year’s Eve versus Davidson, the Patriots came out of the break with a 35-30 edge. George Mason kept it rolling in the second half on a 34-27 stretch and took the eventual win 69-57 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Brayden O’Connor with 19 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Jalen Haynes was also in double-figures, sporting 16 points and five rebounds in 31 minutes of work. Tops in scoring off the bench for the Patriots in the victory was Jared Billups, who amassed five points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Rhode Island Rams Betting Preview

Over on the Rams’ side, they got off to a very nice start themselves this season. Rhode Island recorded victories in each of their first nine outings. Those wins came against Fairfield, Holy Cross, Franklin Pierce, Lafayette, Charleston, Detroit, Texas-Arlington, Yale, and Providence. Following a double-overtime loss versus Brown on December 10 for their first blemish of the season, the Rams took out Central Connecticut and Temple in the next two games. Their most recent outing versus Duquesne was another loss, however.

In the matchup with the Dukes on Tuesday, the Rams were facing a 34-26 deficit after a pretty quiet first half offensively. Rhode Island didn’t get any better from there, notching a 33-29 deficit in the second along the way to a 67-55 loss. The only team player in double-figures there was Rhode Island’s Sebastian Thomas with 20 points, four assists, two rebounds, and a steal. David Green added seven options with two rebounds and two assists, while Javonte Brown chipped in with six options, four rebounds, and one assist in 20 minutes of work.

George Mason vs Rhode Island Prediction

I’ll probably take a stab at Rhode Island here. You obviously could call it either way, though; we should have a good matchup on our hands. In any case, the Rams really need to recover from their rough outing versus Duquesne before they can think about anything else here. Rhode Island finished with just 37 percent shooting in that one with 28.6 percent from outside and 65.4 percent (17-of-26) from the line alongside a 41-30 rebounding deficit. The good news is that Rhode Island has scored 69 or more points in every other game this year.

As for George Mason, they put away a pretty good Davidson team in their last outing thanks to 55.8 percent shooting and a 32-21 rebounding advantage. The Patriots have been below 70 points in three of the last four games (a 3-1 run) but they’ve also held opponents below 69 points in nine straight. Rhode Island has their work cut out for them here, but I think the Rams are up for it.