Week 14 Men's Basketball Preview: James Madison

This certainly isn’t the season the James Madison Dukes envisioned they would have when they walked into the season. The Dukes lost 12 games total last season, and they have already matched that total this season, and they still have eight games left to play.

After the Dukes began last week with an upset victory over the Troy Trojans on the road, they followed it up with a loss against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. The Dukes will return home for two games as they look to climb up the standings as the season is winding down.

Louisiana at James Madison

The Ragin’ Cajuns have had a rough season, with a current record of 7-16, though they have played solid against other Sun Belt teams at 5-6. Last week, they won both of their games, defeating the Georgia State Panthers and the Georgia Southern Eagles. In their 82-72 victory over the Panthers, they were led by De’Vion Lavergne and Dorian Finister. Lavergne scored a career high 23 points, and Finister, who leads them in scoring on the season, added 18. They both played very well again against the Eagles the next game, with Lavergne scoring 17 and Finister adding 15.

The Dukes started last week with the 73-65 win over Troy, even though they lost starting forward and leading scorer Justin McBride to a leg injury. The Dukes were led by Cliff Davis, who scored a game-high 23 points and knocked down five three-pointers. They also got good bench production as Bradley Douglas and Eddie Ricks III combined for 26 off the bench. In their loss to Southern Miss, JMU competed but struggled offensively, only making four of their 20 three-point attempts.

The status of McBride for the game against Louisiana is currently questionable, and his absence may be a big deal against a Louisiana team that is stout defensively. Louisiana ranks 68th in all of college basketball in opponent scoring. It will take a team effort for JMU if they are without McBride again.

Tipoff: Wednesday, Feb 4, 7 p.m. EST

TV: ESPN+

Radio: Ragin’ Cajuns Radio Network (Louisiana), and JMU Network (James Madison)

Toledo at James Madison

The Dukes will play their first out-of-conference game since Dec 29, as they will welcome the Toledo Rockets to town. The Rockets currently sit at 12-10 on the season and 6-4 against other teams in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). After a four-game win streak from Dec 20 to Jan 6, the Rockets have gone 3-4 in the last seven games.

The Rockets have been led by Sonny Wilson and Leroy Blyden. Wilson ranks seventh in the MAC in scoring with an average of 17.2 points per game. He does his scoring efficiently, shooting 48.8% from the floor and 39.4% from three. Blyden isn’t too far behind Wilson in scoring. The freshman guard adds 16.1 points, which is ninth in the MAC. He shoots 45.3% from the field and 42.1% from downtown. Those two have helped make the Rockets the 3rd in scoring offense in the MAC and 77th in college basketball.

In their last game against Ball State, Wilson dropped 19 points, added seven assists, and drilled seven three-pointers.

Trying to slow those two down will be a key for James Madison, a team that ranks in the bottom half of defense in college basketball, even though they have played really good defense the last three games. The Dukes have only allowed 64.7 points in the last three games, over 10 points less than they give up on the season overall, and the teams shot 37.8% during that stretch.

Tipoff: Saturday, Feb 7, 4 p.m. EST

TV: ESPN+

Radio: Toledo Rockets website, and JMU Network (James Madison)