GAME NOTES: George Mason's first true road test of the season is a stiff one, as the Patriots face the undefeated Northern Iowa Panthers on Saturday night at the McLeod Center.

Northern Iowa has come away victorious in each of its first seven games, including a hard-fought 55-50 win over Richmond last Sunday. The Panthers are one of 15 teams in the nation with at least seven wins and no losses, and they are trying to go 8-0 for the first time since the 1963-64 season.

In the latest win, Seth Tuttle registered a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Wes Washpun dropped in 16 points off the bench by shooting a perfect 4-of-4 behind the 3-point line.

The Panthers held Richmond, which came in shooting over 50 percent from the floor, to 39.2 percent and never trailed in the contest.

Tuttle and Washpun handled the load on offense for the Panthers, whose real strength comes at the defensive end as foes are netting just 53.9 ppg against them. Tuttle has been a presence on the inside, tallying 16.4 ppg on a terrific 65.0 percent shooting effort. He is also not bad at the foul line at 73.9 percent. Washpun checks in with 11.3 ppg to go with a team-best 3.0 apg.

George Mason faced another tough matchup against Old Dominion on Wednesday, and led with just over three minutes left before falling, 75-69. The difference came out on the perimeter, as the Patriots shot just 3-of-13 from 3-point range while Old Dominion made 11 triples.

Marquise Moore scored 22 points and Vaughn Gray added 10 of his own for George Mason, which lost despite outscoring ODU in the paint (24-16), and off of turnovers (15-9).

Patrick Holloway, the team's only regular double-digit scorer, was limited to nine points on 4-of-14 shooting. Holloway is the Patriots' only true threat from the outside, accounting for 15 of the team's 26 3-pointers. By comparison, George Mason's opponents have connected on 57 treys.

Holloway is averaging 15.0 ppg, while three other players -- Shevon Thompson, Moore and Jalen Jenkins -- all put up just over nine points each time out. Thompson is also the team's leading rebounder with a robust 10.6 rpg.

The Panthers are trying to do something they have not done in over 50 years, and George Mason, despite winning the only meeting between the programs at McLeod Center in 2011, simply does not have the goods to keep them from attaining that goal.