Game 20 at James Madison on February 13, 2021 at 2:00 P.M.

[EvanJ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvBDsqOgvcM is the CAA's weekly "3 Point Play" video that says this game has the top two scorers in the CAA. Jalen Ray fell from second to third, and moved up to second when Elon McIntosh scored 13 on Tuesday. Lewis leads with 20.6, Ray averages 17.9, and McIntosh averages 17.6. Junior transfer Vado Morse is their only other scorer in the Top 30. He's 16th with 13.5. Then they have balance with seven players averaging 4.4 to 8.6 points. They have started ten players, and everybody other than Lewis has at least two games he didn't start. Lewis's 537 minutes are 38.4 percent more than the second most on the team, which is freshman guard Terell Strickland. He averages 5.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.7 steals. Their points differential per game is +9.5, and https://static.caasports.com/custompage ... M#team.ind has their statistics which are great. Their weaknesses are free throw shooting at .655, and averaging only 1.8 blocks. Freshman forward Justin Amadi leads them with 5 blocks. He's made exactly 2/3rds of his field goals, which leads the CAA, but James Butler leads the CAA in field goal percentage in the NCAA leaders because neither Amadi nor Cramer has made enough for the NCAA's standard. Amadi leads them with 5.3 rebounds, and their next two are Lewis with 4.8 and Julien Wooden with 4.3. Wooden, Amadi, and Terrence Edwards have shot free throws 61/114 = .535, and 114 is exactly 30 percent of the team's attempts. Lewis is a complete player, and his .737 free throw percentage is his biggest weakness. All statistics I gave are from all games.

https://gohofstra.com/news/2021/2/11/me ... eries.aspx is our preview titled "MBB: Hofstra Heads To James Madison For Key CAA Series." We won our last 7 games against them to go up 22-13 all-time.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/ ... game20.pdf is our Game Notes. Ray is 11 points behind Roberto Gittens for 21st and 57 points behind Mike Tilley for 20th, so passing Tilley probably will happen hosting Charleston. He's 67 behind Kenny Adeleke and 81 behind Buie. Passing them will make him sixth in our career points in the CAA behind the five players who are in the overall top ten. Coburn is 2 threes behind Jason Hernandez for tenth. Jenkins is ninth with 180, Hernandez made 162, and Coburn made 160.

JMU has not written a preview yet.

In the unlikely event that somebody here doesn't pay for Flo and gets NBC Sports Washington, you can watch on TV. Sunday's game will be on the Shenandoah Valley's affiliate of what is My 9 here. Even including games on broadcast only in the opponent's area, I doubt we were on broadcast much since the 2001 NCAA Tournament. Charleston used to have some home games on broadcast including hosting us on January 8, 2015 and January 7, 2017, which were also on MyTV. I don't know if we have ever been on a broadcast channel other than a My affiliate since we joined the CAA.

[Hof_Judge99]

JMU opens as a 2 point favorite. They have a new arena so no more massive hideous Duke logo at center court. Can’t let Lewis wreck the game like he usually does, easier said then done of course but really is the key anytime you play JMU.

[triplec2195]

This is a good test for us to see how far we have come since the original series with Northeastern as we develop our young players and get them valuable playing time. A lot of matchup and different scenarios will develop in this game but I believe out guards more then hold their own and the game is won or lost in the paint. This is where we have the advantage I believe with Cramer and Kante but maybe they will lose the game from the foul line. An important game for us to take the opener IMO.

[HUSID80]

Interestlingly, ESPN has JMU as 1.5 pt favs but only gives us a 39 percent chance of winning.

Sagarin, which I beleive is the most accurate says we are 1.79 pt favorites.

Like to think that our bigs can dominate and our guards, if we get good eforts rom Coburn and Ray take this one.

Should be a good one!

[EvanJ]

https://jmusports.com/news/2021/2/12/me ... eries.aspx is titled "Men's Basketball Welcomes Reigning Champs for Weekend Series." It says they're seventh in free throws attempted according to KenPom, and I don't know if that's attempts per game, attempts per field goal attempts, attempts per possession, or something else. Shooting free throws poorly is worse when a team has a lot of attempts. They shoot 249/380 = .655 with exactly 23.75 attempts per game. We average 4.68 more attempts per game than our opponents, and they average a slightly lower 4.56 attempts per game more than their opponents. We won the last four at JMU including making 20 threes in a 97-81 win to win last season's regular season title on the last day.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/ ... ofstra.pdf is JMU's Game Notes. Other than Lewis, Michael Christmas scored 16 the last time we faced them. Zach Jacobs has more fouls (18) than points (14) or rebounds (12) in seven games against us. He's the CAA's active career leader with 62 blocks, but he hasn't blocked one of our shots. Their only player taller than 6-8 is Joel Mensah, who has 16 points in 54 minutes. Forwards Jacobs (sub) and Julien Wooden (starter) are their tallest regulars at 6-8, and freshman starting forward Justin Amadi is 6-7. Just like us, they start at least one player from each year, including freshmen Amadi and guard Terell Strickland. Strickland and second leading scorer Vado Morse are two starters who are only 6-0. Morse averages 1.6 rebounds and has only 1 offensive rebound in 374 minutes.

KenPom thinks we are 1.07 points better. It doesn't give home court advantage, but home court advantage is over 1.07 according to everybody, so it would make JMU favored.

Matt Lewis is 8 behind Steve Stielper for JMU's record of 652 free throw attempts. He averages 7.1 attempts, so he will probably break that record against us. Stielper's record is 520, and our record by Jenkins is 51.5 percent higher with 788. He has made 1 fewer three than Darren McLinton, who is third on their career list. Lewis has 96 career games with double-digit points, and the rest of their team has combined for 58 only including their games for JMU. Zach Jacobs and Julien Wooden are tied for second with 12, which is one-eighth of Lewis's 96.

[EvanJ]

I made a double post to give the statistics links:

Us: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=318716

Northeastern at Towson at 1:00 P.M. http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=325716

Elon at Charleston at 1:00 P.M. http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=318188

[Polito]

Big series for a number of reasons...

- HU has not yet actually proven it is the top of this league yet, being swept by NU, splitting with Drexel, this series is a key much needed opp and their shot to show definitive proof they are ready to make this year their own, and that the NU series gaff is far behind them.

- As mentioned, HU can show they have effectively developed their depth that they've been working on literally all season.

- A chance for Coburn to show some consistency in high level play both in coming from the last game to today as well as today to tomorrow. He needs to put this motivation, energy, not knowing his role game to game or whatever other nonsense behind him and start playing like a seasoned Sr starting leader every single game from here on out.

- This will show who the POY leader truly is between Ray and Lewis. I see both as 1st teamers, but who's the top dog at this present time will be established this weekend. I think both will get theirs in, but whoever leads their team to the win(s) will be the victor of this question, at least for now.

I do agree the post may be where the biggest difference shows. JMU has size and a bench, so guys like Cramer, Green, and Schutte especially need to be ready to show up in a big way to assist Kante with their size. He will definitely get focus from their D, so HU has to make them pay with other guys scoring and hitting open looks.

This SHOULD be a game where HU benefits from having more games under the belts and being a team that has been together longer. JMU has managed the transfer element really well this year with all their newcomers, they seem to be deep and talented, and the staff has them playing well. But I keep thinking at some point HU has to show real fruit from the two things mentioned, and from being a champion. Haven't really seen it yet IMO. This is where they need to show it.

I also feel like we could see some names make significant 'burst' impacts that both sides would say they don't know much about... this kind of matchup feels like everyone knows the 'big dogs' but because both teams are building and using their bench pretty regularly, other guys that perhaps don't normally light things up will have a chance to shine for certain minutes in this game. We have seen such with Masic, Silverio, even a Green, but I'm sure JMU has guys like that too. Gonna be a heckuva battle.

I think both programs are looking forward to seeing how their team performs in this series as a solid barometer of where they both are in terms of CAAT readiness. Neither seems too overly confident, both teams respecting the other, and both could just as easily win both, lose both, or split, so this should be a wild weekend to see how it actually plays out! Let's go HU, let's go fellas, bring the championship mettle and stake your claim!

[Hofstra]

I made a double post to give the statistics links:

Us: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=318716

Northeastern at Towson at 1:00 P.M. http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=325716

Elon at Charleston at 1:00 P.M. http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=318188

Never apologize for a double post. We all appreciate your hard work.

Still waiting for your gambling column though. Fake gambling obviously though (wink wink)

[EvanJ]

http://defiantlydutch.blogspot.com/2021 ... -from.html is Jerry Beach's "I'll Be Quirky: James Madison." Cramer has scored 175, and he could be our ninth freshman in the CAA to score at least 250. Agudio (452), Jenkins (436), Kenny Adeleke (433), Pemberton (397), Stokes (374), Chaz Williams (325), Jamall Robinson (312), and Halil Kanacevic (294) did that.

Both teams are starting their usual starters.

[Hofstra]

PATHETIC effort late. Yet again. This is so old already. Farrelly, you might want to teach some late game situations

[Hof_Judge99]

PATHETIC effort late. Yet again. This is so old already. Farrelly, you might want to teach some late game situations

Just a pitiful performance today. Not that we had much of a shot of winning anyway but Burgess forcing that 3 up 6 with under 3 to go really was the turning point.

[Mikey77]

Burgess killed us going 0-3 from the line, especially since they were 1 and 1's. Silverio as well missing those two FT's at the end. And Burgess and Silverio going 2 -10 shooting. another blown opportunity this year.

[Pride97]

Horrible loss. Up the whole game and let it slip away .... again.


Seniors played well, but that’s it. May have been Burgess’ worst game of the year. Kept chucking threes and looked out of sync running the offense all day. Cramer got into early foul trouble and was very quiet. Hate to say it, but Kante was outmuscled today as well. He should own the glass and the paint against this team and he was outplayed on both ends.

Defense was non-existent. Zone has looked bad this year but letting up 90 is just proving it’s not working. Doesn’t feel like this team buys into playing D like last years. The scheme may not be working but the players desire isn’t there on D. Complete lack of effort.

This could have been a statement win, but maybe the statement is HU is a middle of the CAA team this year. Expectations may have been too high.


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[HUSID80]

Agree with all said except for Kanye...every time he touched the ball doen low JMU doubled him.

Problem was our non-prime time players did not perform...the Burgess missed free throws were a killer and Silverado, when have we ever seen him perform well when the game was on the line.

This team continues to blow too many big leads...a real bad habit which better change soon...like tomorrow.

[stuball888]

John you must be upset i didnt realize that Kanye West played for us and we also had a Chevy Silverado who missed free throws

[Flying Dutchmen]

Burgess has been killing us all year. He's definitely had tough shoes to fill, but he's been so sloppy with the ball, I have to turn off the game at times. I can accept he can't shoot, but the decision-making is maddening, it's two bad plays for every good play. We're going nowhere if he can't rein it in.

This is where we miss Joe, we haven't had a team play this sloppy offensively, this late in the season at any point in Joe's tenure. The caveat is this team is our youngest team in years, and probably the most talented in the league from what I've seen, if we can make some last minute corrections, we have a shot to win it in March.

[triplec2195]

I don't blame Kante at all on the O end but clearly he could have played better in the post defensively and I'm being nice. A punch to the gut kind of game just like the NE 1st game. We didn't have huge leads but double figures for a while but we can't get it together for a 2 minute close out. This is a game that should have been in the win column and yes not a good game at all from Burgess. He needed to step up at the end and really choked. Mikey you made comments about Silverio(Silverado) but the box score shows him shooting 1/5 and taking no free throws?? He did take some questionable shot(s). Very disheartening to say the least!! Coaches need to shoulder some of the blame also.

[Mikey77]

Go to live stats - Silverio missed two free throws at the .2 mark when the score was 91 - 89 JMU. And I don't even drink!

[EvanJ]

Here are some things I looked up in the College Basketball at Sports-Reference Play Index:

1. We made 17 threes, and they made 7. It was the second time from 2010-2011 to now that we lost while making at least 10 more threes than our opponent, and the previous time was a 94-84 loss to South Carolina in the Virgin Islands on November 22, 2015.

2. We had 19 assists, and JMU had 18. It was the second time from 2010-2011 to now that we played a game in which both teams had at least 89 points and at least 18 assists, and both were losses at JMU. The previous one was a 98-95 overtime loss on February 7, 2016 when we also blew a double-digit lead as we led 46-34 at halftime then.

3. Ray and Coburn made 5 threes. It was the first time we had two players made at least 5 threes since we won hosting JMU in the game before the 2020 CAA Tournament. It was the first time we had teammates make at least 5 threes in a loss since Brian Bernardi made 7 and JWF made 5 in a 76-72 loss hosting Charleston on February 16, 2017. Today and the 2020 game were the only times we had teammates score at least 26 and make at least 5 threes. We did that the last two times we played JMU, but never against anybody else in over ten-and-a-half seasons.

4. Burgess became the 17th player from 2010-2011 to now to have at least 8 assists, at least 7 turnovers, and 5 fouls. The only previous CAA player to do that was Towson's Kris Walden on December 14, 2011. The previous player to do that was Grambling's Ivy Smith against non-Division I Paul Quinn on December 4, 2019, so nobody did that in calendar year 2020.

5. JMU became the first team to have at least seven players score at least 8 points against us since Northeastern beat us in the 2019 CAA Final. It was the fifth time from 2010-2011 to now that seven teammates scored at least 8 points against us, and more than seven teammates have not done that against us in that time.

6. We had seven players make at least 1 three for the first time since a 102-61 win hosting Elon on February 7, 2019.

Not from the Play Index:

Coburn scored 28 to increase his averages from 15.2 to 15.9. Ray scored 26 to increase his average from 17.9 to 18.3.

JMU shot twos 17/23 = .739 in the second half. They had 14 assists in the second half.

[Pride97]

Stu - haha nice one

Silverio missed two FTs but the second was on purpose. The first one hurt though.

And yes Kante was doubled but he needs to get the ball back out since someone is open.

I think I heard HU was out rebounded - didn’t look at the box score but that can’t happen. I thought Kante would dominate the glass and it felt like they got a bunch of offensive rebounds.


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