JMU Wins Sun Belt With Most Wins In The Nation While Advancing To Madness
The 31-3 James Madison Dukes blew out the Arkansas State Red Wolves 91-71 to reach the Big Dance
The #2 JMU Dukes defeated the #4 Arkansas State Red Wolves 91-71 in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Final to win it all on Monday. JMU surprisingly had 1 less player with 10+ points than the Red Wolves. JMU had 4 while Arkansas State had 5.
Xavier Brown had the most of those JMU players in double figures with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists. 2nd for the Dukes was Terrence Edwards Jr. with 19 points, 3 assists, and 4 rebounds. Jaylen Carey was next with 13 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist. Last with 10+ was Noah Freidel who had 12 points, 1 rebound, and 2 assists. Cleveland Cavaliers coach’s nephew T.J. Bickerstaff had a good game, with 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.
James Madison shot well in the game, 36/56 from the field (62.5%), with a 57.9 3-point percentage (11/19)
Arkansas State was carried by Freddy Hicks who had 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Izaiyah Nelson had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Derrian Ford also had 12 points, but he only had 2 rebounds. Caleb Fields and Taryn Todd had almost identical stats, both having 10 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 turnovers. Todd had 3 fouls while Fields had only 1.
They shot poorly, 35.6% from the field (21/59) including 28.0% from 3 (7/25).
JMU will find out who they play on Selection Sunday. Watch the telecast on CBS at 6 PM EST on Sunday.
These seedings (#4 and #2) are their conference tournament seeds, not NCAA rankings. In the JCU vs. Calvin game, those rankings were the NCAA rankings.