James Madison Knocks off Louisiana to Advance

After a rough few opening minutes, the James Madison Dukes went on and led throughout most of the way, and defeated the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 87-72 to advance in the Sun Belt tournament.

Moving On 🗣️#GoDukes pic.twitter.com/uI9fCqXRSk

— JMU Men’s Basketball (@JMUMBasketball) March 5, 2026

It was a very clunky beginning to the game for JMU. In the first five minutes of the game, they turned the ball over four times. A jumper by Jaxon Olvera led to Louisiana taking a 10-7 lead. Louisiana would have a 12-10 lead a few minutes later, and that was the last time they led during the game, with JMU responding with a 14-0 run to help give them some separation. The Dukes headed into the half with a 37-27 lead.

The second half saw James Madison lead the entire way, but there were several points at which Louisiana made it very interesting. After a Justin McBride layup increased the lead to 53-42, back-to-back threes by Dorian Finister and Milan Mejia cut it to five. A turnaround jumper by Olvera made it 55-51.

Jax’s continuing to fill it up in Pensacola! 😤

📺 [𝗘𝗦𝗣𝗡+] https://t.co/Jwj9DLkxex
📻 [103.3 FM/1420 AM] https://t.co/RTiBIVtWPR
📈 https://t.co/10WCBMxmmu #GeauxCajuns pic.twitter.com/fAWhzc01EE

— Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns® Men’s Basketball (@RaginCajunsMBB) March 5, 2026

James Madison needed a response, and Cliff Davis gave them the response they needed, scoring seven unanswered points on his own the put the lead back to 11. A few minutes later, after a pair of made free throws by Bradley Douglas, an and one by Finister, brought Louisiana back to within five with 3:22 left on the clock.

Eli Wilborn made the tip layup seconds later, and the game was capped off with a big slam by McBride, who got the and one on the dunk to give JMU a 75-65 lead with 2:21 left. James Madison was able to coast the rest of the way with open layups due to Louisiana applying a full-court press and free throws.

JMAC AND ONE ‼️🗣️

McBride has his 11th 20-point game after he completes the three-point play pic.twitter.com/8qrXsJonFq

— JMU Men’s Basketball (@JMUMBasketball) March 5, 2026

The Dukes got great production from McBride, Douglas, and Douglas. Davis continued his excellent play with another 20+ point game, ending with 21 points, five rebounds, and three assists. McBride had 20 points, eight rebounds, and shot 8-11. Douglas finished with 18 points and four rebounds.

The Dukes were very efficient from the field and from the free-throw line, shooting 32-54 from the floor and 20-26 from the line. They didn’t do a lot of damage from the three-point line, but neither did Louisiana.

Despite the win, the Dukes will have to clean up the turnovers, as they finished with 16 on the night. Very uncharacteristic for a team that only averaged 11.6 on the year.

It was a two-man show on the night for Louisiana, with 28 from Olvera and 27 from Finister, combining for 55 of the team’s 72 points. Olvera and Finister combined shot 19-for-34. There wasn’t another player for Louisiana to hit double figures. The rest of the team shot 7-for-28. This was the second straight game Olvera had an excellent scoring game, with 29 in the previous game in a win over Georgia State.

Several big differences in this game helped swing it JMU’s way. The first being rebounding, with the Dukes outrebounding the Ragin Cajuns 41 to 23 on the glass. The other was fast break scoring, with the Dukes scoring 22 points on fast breaks compared to the three for Louisiana. The final difference was bench scoring, as James Madison’s bench outscored Louisiana’s bench 29 to four.

Louisiana ended its season with an 11-21 record and went 7-11 against the Sun Belt.

The Dukes will advance in the tournament and will now play the Southern Miss Golden Eagles tomorrow at 6 PM EST. Southern Miss and James Madison only played each other once this season, with Southern Miss defeating them 73-65 back on Jan 31.