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vs. South Dakota State
11/26/2022 | 12 p.m
Nov 26 (Sat) / 12 pm
South Dakota State
SAVANNAH, Ga. – Freshman guard Xavier Brown Paced five James Madison players who scored in double figures on Friday morning as the Dukes rolled to a 100-54 win over Coastal Georgia in the opening contest of a three-game men’s basketball weekend at Enmarket Arena.
The Dukes (5-1) bounced back from a cold start to hit 53.2% (41-77) of their shots, including a 20-of-30 clip after halftime, as they held the Mariners to just 35.1% (20-57 ) on the day.
Brown was in control throughout the contest on his way to the strongest game of his college career, racking up 17 points on 7-11 shooting, while grabbing a game-high seven rebounds, four steals and three assists across 26 minutes.
Junior forward Julien Wooden also stuffed the stat sheet, scoring 15 points in 23 minutes and adding six boards, four assists, three steals and a block. Graduate forward Meze Offurum also continued his strong play with 14 points and six boards.
Coastal Georgia guard Torey James led the way for the Mariners, hitting four three-pointers on his way to 14 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
first half
The Dukes came out cold, missing their first seven shots as Coastal Georgia staked a 5-0 lead, but JMU would respond with the next seven points to start a 16-3 run that included baskets from six different players.
JMU would later use stretches of nine straight points and 15 straight to balloon the lead as high as 26 in the opening half, taking that deficit into the break with a wooden layup at the buzzer that made it 49-23.
second half
Coastal Georgia would strike quickly out of halftime, hitting a pair of three-pointers, but the Dukes would continue to pour on the offense, hitting five of their 11 shots from beyond the arc as they continued to extend the lead.
From the 7:43 mark on, JMU only yielded a pair of baskets and no free throws, closing the contest on runs of 24-4 and 15-0.
QUICK HITS
– Xavier Brown posted by far his best performance since arriving at JMU, grabbing career highs in points, rebounds and steals.
– Friday marked the fifth different starting lineup for the Dukes in their opening six games.
– The Dukes are now 21-0 when yielding 69 or fewer points under Mark Byington.
– Brown’s performance makes him the 11th different JMU player to score 10 or more points in at least one game this season.
– JMU’s scoring performance gives them three 100-point scoring games in one season for the first time since the 1992-93 campaign.
UP NEXT
The Dukes will be back in action immediately, opening their Hostilo Community Classic with a noon tip against South Dakota State on Saturday, Nov. 26. Entering their Friday afternoon matchup against Valparaiso, the Jackrabbits are 2-3 on the 2022-23 season.
