JMU Comeback Falls Short Against UC San Diego

Friday, November 22

Daytona Beach, Fla.

3:30 p.m.

James Madison University

3-3,0-0Sun Belt

UC San Diego

4-2,0-0Big West

James Madison

UC San Diego

11/22/2024 6:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – James Madison men's basketball climbed out of a 12-point second-half deficit but fell to UC San Diego, 73-67, on Friday evening at the Ocean Center in the semifinals of the Boardwalk Battle.

JMU (3-3) trailed 45-33 with just over 14 minutes remaining in the second half but scored 24 points in just seven minutes to even the tally at 57-57 with seven minutes left on a free-throw from Elijah Hutchins-Everett. However, UC San Diego (4-2) capitalized off JMU's mistakes and hit timely buckets to hold off the Dukes.

Bryce Lindsay finished with five 3-pointers and 17 points off the bench to lead the Dukes. He became the first JMU player since Vado Morse to make five threes in consecutive games. Xavier Brown led the Dukes with four assists, while AJ Smith corralled nine boards.

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones finished with 21 points to lead UC San Diego, 13 of which came from the charity stripe. Hayden Gray tallied 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting with three 3-pointers, and Nordin Kapic finished with 12 points.

How It Happened
First Half: UC San Diego 34, James Madison 28

After UC San Diego opened the scoring off a JMU turnover, the Dukes held the Tritons scoreless over five minutes to build a 7-2 lead at the 14:54 mark of the first.
The Tritons countered with a 7-0 run to take a 9-7 lead with 12:10 to go in the first, but Lindsay connected on his first triple to retake the lead at 10-9.
Three straight scores from UC San Diego would force a Dukes timeout at the 6:36 mark as the Tritons built a 21-16 lead.
Tait-Jones converted a three-point play to give UC San Diego a 34-23 lead with just over 90 seconds remaining in the half.
JMU cut the deficit to six with a 5-0 run going into the break, capped off by a Freeman jumper at the buzzer to make it 34-28.

Second Half: James Madison 39, UC San Diego 39

UC San Diego opened the second half on an 8-2 run to take a 42-30 lead at the 16:47 mark as the Tritons took advantage of missed shots and miscues from the Dukes.
Lindsay connected on three straight triples, going on his own 9-3 run to cut the deficit to six at 45-39 with 14:37 to play.
Luke Anderson then chimed in from beyond the arc to make it 47-42 with 11:34 to go.
Another Lindsay triple made it 51-47 with just under ten minutes to play.
The two squads began trading buckets before a Freeman jumper would tie it at 54 at the 7:59 mark of the second.
UCSD then built a six-point lead at 63-57, before a layup from Eddie Ricks III cut it to four with 3:10 to play as JMU connected on six of its previous eight field goals.
A Brown and-one would cut it to just two at 69-67 with 41 seconds to go, but a turnover and free-throws from the Tritons pushed them over the finish line.

Game Notes

JMU fell to 0-1 against UC San Diego and 1-3 against current Big West Conference members.
The Tritons forced 12 JMU turnovers, scoring 21 points.
Eddie Ricks III made his first start at JMU and finished with nine points in 27 minutes.
Bryce Lindsay became the first JMU player since Vado Morse to record five or more three-pointers in consecutive games (Jan. 20-22, 2022)
Lindsay is also one of 12 players nationally that are averaging 15 points per game while making zero starts this season.

Up Next
The Dukes will play the loser of Jax State and Toledo at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow in the finale of the Boardwalk Battle. The game will stream on BallerTV (subscription required) and on the radio on REWIND 105.1 FM and the Varsity Network App with Corey Spector.