James Madison Basketball

No. 12 James Madison stunned No. 5 Wisconsin 72-61 in the first round of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament thanks to a balanced scoring attack and a dominant defensive performance on a Friday night in Brooklyn where the Dukes never trailed.

Terrence Edwards Jr.'s 14 points led six Dukes players with eight or more points. T.J. Bickerstaff and Julien Wooden scored 12 apiece, and Michael Green III added 11 off the bench.

JMU also amassed 14 steals, with six players getting two or more. Wisconsin finished the evening with 19 turnovers and shot just 37.3 percent from the field.

Badgers guard Max Klesmit led all scorers with 18 points. AJ Storr added 13, and Steven Crowl posted a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double.

This was a sensational win for the Dukes, who hadn't won a first-round NCAA tournament game since 1983. The program had only made March Madness twice since then (1994, 2013), but this year's Dukes team is special. JMU started the year 14-0, including a season-opening win over Michigan State. The now 32-3 Dukes also haven't lost since Jan. 27, so they've rolled off a 14-game win streak.

Needless to say, JMU went into the tournament as a clear underdog to Wisconsin, which nearly won the Big Ten before falling to Illinois in last Sunday's championship game. But the Dukes jumped out to a 33-20 halftime lead and kept Wisconsin at arm's length for the final 20 minutes en route to a well-deserved win.

JMU will now face No. 4 seed Duke on Sunday in search of its first-ever Sweet 16 appearance.

The Colonial Athletic Association is one of the most underrated conferences in college basketball. The CAA may not be in the same class as the Big East, Big Ten and the ACC, but they are no slouch.

With Final Four appearances by VCU and George Mason in recent years, people around the college basketball world are familiar with a few CAA teams. This season, the James Madison Dukes look to break out and make an NCAA appearance.

During the past few seasons, the Dukes have played competitively with conference-foes George Mason and VCU.

When you look at the CAA, most of the teams are guard-heavy with enough presence in the paint to make a difference.

The catalyst for the James Madison Dukes is redshirt junior point-guard Devon Moore. Moore will have to take on the challenge of being the team's best performer this season. Last season, Moore led the team with 4.2 assists per game while chipping in a solid 11.4 points per game.

With Moore being out for the earlier part of the season, the Dukes will need Hitchens, Davis and Wells to step up on the perimeter.

It was evident in the exhibition season that the Dukes will still be a force to be reckoned with. 

By losing Denzel Bowles to graduation, the Dukes can fill his void by committee. The "Ohio Players," "Humpty" Hitchens, A.J. Davis, Julian Wells and Rayshawn Goings, will be key to the success of the Dukes as well. Transfer A.J. Davis will blend in well with the Dukes' up-tempo style of basketball and will be the sleeper of the team. the Dukes also have other key role-players who look to improve on last season's performance.

Last season, the Dukes won 20 games for the first time since the 1981-82 season. Last season, the Dukes lost a lot of close contests, and their win total could have been at least 25.

But missing out on the NCAA Tournament fueled the Dukes into wanting to garner national attention like their peers VCU and George Mason. Taking each game personally will make or break the Dukes. Being predicted to finish fifth in the CAA should add fuel to the fire.

This should be an exciting season for JMU. The sky is the limit.

James Madison’s Denzel Bowles is a strong candidate for Player of the Year in the Colonial Athletic Association this season. He is also a very likely NBA draft pick this coming June.

Two years ago, neither of these things would have had any chance of happening, given the state of his college playing career.

Upon arriving at Texas A&M in 2007, Bowles, at 6’10” and 255 lbs., was merely one of many big men on the Aggies’ roster. 

More experienced players like Joseph Jones and Bryan Davis, were receiving the bulk of the minutes inside for Aggies’ new head coach Mark Turgeon. Highly-touted DeAndre Jordan, a fellow freshman, was consuming most of the remaining playing time.

This left Bowles, who came to Texas A&M out of the Virginia Beach area, to an almost exclusive role on the bench his freshman season. Bowles played a total of 24 minutes that season, in eight games. 

Entering his sophomore season in the fall of 2008, Bowles figured to get some additional playing time. With the graduation of Jones, and the early departure of Jordan to the NBA, this expectation seemed to be a near certainty. 

Things did not play out that way for Bowles. Through his first nine games, he averaged only five minutes and just over two points per game. In December of that season, Bowles played his last game for Texas A&M.

After the fall semester, Bowles decided to return to his home state of Virginia, transferring to James Madison. He was looking for the opportunity to become a starter and prominent figure on a Division I basketball team. For Bowles, the move made sense. He would be playing in a league (the CAA) that was very competitive, but with few quality big men in comparison to major conference teams. 

Bowles became eligible to play for James Madison in December 2009, after the fall semester. Almost immediately, Bowles became a standout, both in physical presence and in level of play. 

In just his second game with the Dukes, Bowles scored 37 points and pulled down 15 rebounds against Gardner Webb. In that one game, he had scored more points than he did in a year and a half at Texas A&M.

Bowles did not let up from there. He went on to average nearly 21 points and over nine boards a game for the season. He posted 12 double-doubles, including both games the Dukes played in last year’s CAA Tournament. 

It was a great season individually for Bowles. However, JMU struggled, even with the emergence of the second-team All-CAA power forward. The team finished just 4-14 in the league, and was knocked out in the CAA quarterfinals.

A significant improvement this season seemed likely for JMU, who would now have Bowles, an easy preseason first-team All-CAA pick, for a full season. The Dukes got off to a solid start. Despite a season-opening loss to Kansas State, the Dukes went 10-2 in non-conference play, including wins over South Florida, Marshall and Kent State. 

Bowles and JMU continued their quality play into the conference schedule, winning five straight against CAA foes before losing at Old Dominion, the defending league champion, by only six points.

Bowles certainly did his part, with 20 points and nine rebounds against a very physical ODU team, led upfront by Frank Hassell. 

While Bowles would have loved to win a game in his home Tidewater area, the loss left him and the Dukes with nothing to be ashamed of. They proved they could compete with a league power on their home court, something they will need to do more of in order to stay in competition for the CAA regular season title.

JMU will return home to play another key league game, against George Mason, on Saturday. It will be another chance for Bowles to showcase his frontcourt game against one of the perennial powers of the CAA.

It will not get any easier after that, as the Dukes will go to Hofstra then play Drexel back home.   

At 5-2 in the league, JMU has already topped their CAA win total from last season. The team has commanded the respect of the league, and is now mentioned in the same breath as the league’s Virginia powers: George Mason, Old Dominion and VCU. 

With his outstanding play over the past year, Bowles now has legitimate NBA aspirations.  In addition, he has helped revitalize a program in his home state. Neither of these would have had any chance to happen if he stayed in Texas.

It seems like he made the right decision.

Devon Moore has been a winner on all levels of basketball, and that will only continue for the rest of his years at JMU.

Coach Matt Brady struck gold when he recruited Moore out of Northland High School. Moore had other offers on the table, but he stuck with the team that showed the most interest.

Moore selected his high school in a similar way as he did when it came to selecting colleges.

In Columbus, Ohio, schools such as Brookhaven, Beechcroft, Africentric, and Eastmoor are often on the list of top schools to attend coming out of middle school. With Moore's family having a strong foundation at Beechcroft High School, he went against the grain and went to Northland High School.

During his first year they went through growing pains, but for the rest of his high school career they were one of the best teams in the state of Ohio. While at Northland Moore was coached by Satch Sullinger, who helped prepare him for the college basketball level.

Last season Devon Moore suffered a knee injury that ended his season before it even started. Moore was expected to make his homecoming appearance against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio, which is his hometown.

Without Moore the Dukes had a mediocre season, finishing 13-20. With Moore coming back from injury, look for the team to vastly improve. The Dukes had spotty point guard play without Moore, but with Moore and Humpty Hitchens in the fold, JMU will be dangerous this upcoming season.

During Moore's freshman season he was selected to the All-CAA Rookie Team. With averages of 10.4 points a game and around four assists, Moore proved that he belonged in the Colonial. Moore even held his own against Eric Maynor, who is now the backup point guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Moore is a very efficient player who shoots at a good percentage from the field and at the foul line. His numbers will never blow you away, but his impact and the way he runs a team are irreplaceable.

People can talk about how high someone jumps or how well he shoots, but if they lack basketball IQ they are irrelevant on the hardwood. Devon's basketball IQ is off the charts. Moore is a smooth point guard who is even keeled at all times. His calmness and quiet confidence rub off on his teammates.

Many experts are picking the Dukes to win the CAA conference. Core players such as Moore, Julius Wells, Denzel Bowles, and Trevon Flores will provide experience along with newcomers Humpty Hitchens, Rayshawn Goins, and James Millen. Barring any injury the Dukes should contend for the CAA title.

The Dukes are the new VCU. VCU dominated with Larry Sanders and Eric Maynor and even upset Duke in the NCAA Tournament. With Moore back at the point, great things can happen. Moore is used to playing with talented rosters, so it will be his job to get everyone the ball and pick and choose his spots to score the ball.

Last year was a down season for JMU, but I wouldn't expect that for a long time. Good luck to the Dukes this season, and continue to fly under the radar.

Boxscore

James Madison bounced back on Tuesday night by beating the Belmont Bruins 81-64 in the consolation game of the Cable Car Classic.

In the opening round game against UTEP, the Dukes struggled to match the three-point shooting of the Miners. Randy Culpepper set a school record with eight daggers from downtown and paced UTEP with 30 points. JMU, on the other hand, shot only 4 of 16 from long range. The Miners went on to beat JMU 79-66.

It was a different story last night, as the Dukes shot 10 of 20 from deep and dominated the second half on their way to a very convincing win.

Kyle Swanston shook off a poor performance against UTEP and scored 23 points while Pierre Curtis ended his early season slump with his best game of the season, scoring 16 points.

Curtis scored 11 of his 16 points in the first half to keep the Dukes close in a period that was often sloppy and turnover-plagued. JMU had 14 turnovers and the Bruins turned the ball over 11 times. Belmont also controlled the offensive glass in the half, pulling down 14 offensive rebounds.

However, the Dukes settled down in the second half, committing only four turnovers and converting several Belmont miscues into scores.

JMU was helped by the return of Andrey Semenov, who sat out Monday with the flu. He scored six points and grabbed five rebounds. Julius Wells had 10 points and five rebounds, and Juwann James chipped in nine points, all of which came in the second half.

Belmont was led by Shane Dansby with 16 points, and the Bruins fell to 5-6. The Dukes improved to 8-5 on the season.

Santa Clara won the Cable Car Classic championship by beating UTEP 89-88 in a wild overtime game. Stefon Jackson scored 44 points to become UTEP's all-time leading scorer.

The JMU Men's basketball team (7-4) resumes play on Monday night, December 29th at 11pm EST against the Miners of the University of Texas El Paso (6-4). The teams join Belmont and host Santa Clara in California for the Cable Car Classic.

The Cable Car Classic is the longest-running regular season tournament in the country. In this year's edition, the Dukes are trying to win their first regular season tournament or any tournament for that matter since 2001-02 when they won a tournament in Richmond.

JMU is coached by 1st year head coach Matt Brady (previously at Marist). The Dukes are currently on a 3 game win streak, which includes a quality win at home over Seton Hall of the Big East. Abdulai Jalloh, JMU's leading returning scorer and pre-season 2nd Team All Conference selection, is out for the season with a shoulder injury.

In his absence, the Dukes have been led by seniors Kyle Swanston and Juwann James along with solid play from a trio of freshmen - Julius Wells, Devon Moore, and Andrey Semenov. The Dukes will likely use a starting lineup of:

• G Pierre Curtis
• G Devon Moore
• F Kyle Swanston
• F Julius Wells
• C Dazzmond Thornton 

Tony Barbee is in his 3rd season at the helm of UTEP. They too have had some recent success and are enjoying a two-game win streak with victories over Texas Tech and New Mexico State. The Miners faced a pair of ranked opponents earlier in the season in Arizona State and Wake Forest and lost a very tough battle against the Demon Deacons by only 3 points.

The game with UTEP presents what looks like a pretty even matchup on paper.

Keys to the game for JMU:

• Find a way to contain Senior guard Stefon Jackson. Jackson is averaging 23.6 points a game and is on pace to become the all-time leading scorer in UTEP and Conference USA history. One way to slow him down will be to keep him off of the free throw line, where he is averaging about 10 makes per game and shooting 81%.
• The Dukes also need to slow down Sophomore guard Randy Culpepper who scores 19.6 per game and combines with Jackson to create one of the highest scoring duos in UTEP history.
• The good news is that no other Miner is currently averaging double digit points.
• Keep UTEP off of the offensive glass. The Miners are grabbing 14.6 offensive rebounds per game, up from 11.9 last season. Limiting their second chance opportunities is crucial for the Dukes.
• JMU has to continue to hit the 3pt shot. The catalyst in this effort will be Senior forward Kyle Swanston who is shooting 48% from downtown and has emerged as a leader on this team since Abdulai Jalloh went out with a shoulder injury. The Dukes are 7-3 when making at least 6 shots from beyond the arc.
• If the Dukes are hitting from the outside this will open up the paint for Senior forward Juwann James to do major damage off the bench. He is averaging 14.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game after coming back from an early-season illness.
• JMU needs strong bench play from James, Semenov, and Ben Louis. The Dukes need to continue to get production out of their bench players and take advantage of their depth.

These two teams have never faced each other, but I anticipate a close battle on Monday night in the Leavey Center in this first round match-up of the 2008 Cable Car Classic. In the end, the JMU Dukes will come out on top by 4 points: 77 - 73.