Men’s Hoops Drops Sun Belt Opener at South Alabama

Saturday, December 21

Mobile, Ala.

2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT)

James Madison University

6-6,0-1Sun Belt

South Alabama

8-4,1-0Sun Belt

James Madison

South Alabama

12/21/2024 4:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. – James Madison men's basketball fell to South Alabama, 77-49, on Saturday afternoon at Mitchell Arena to open Sun Belt Conference play.

JMU fell to 6-6 overall and 0-1 in Sun Belt games, while South Alabama improved to 8-4 and 1-0 in league play. The Jaguars shot 51.8 percent from the floor and forced 15 JMU turnovers, scoring 24 points off the Dukes' miscues.

Bryce Lindsay (12) and Elijah Hutchins-Everett (10) scored in double figures for the Dukes, while Mark Freeman led the JMU with four assists. As a team, the Dukes shot a season-low 29.1 percent from the floor.

Myles Corey led South Alabama with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting while leading the Jaguars in assists (7). Barry Dunning Jr. scored 16 points, as 10 South Alabama players contributed to the scoring effort.

How It Happened
First Half: South Alabama 34, James Madison 26

JMU committed five turnovers in the first eight minutes as South Alabama built a 14-4 lead with 11:48 remaining in the half.
The Jaguar lead grew to 20 points but the Dukes used an 11-0 run to trim the deficit to 30-21 with 3:47 left.
Elijah Hutchins-Everett scored on a turnaround jumper with 2:27 left in the half to give him a team-leading eight points in the opening 20 minutes.

Second Half: South Alabama 43, James Madison 23

JMU opened the second stanza with a Brown three-pointer to keep the deficit in single digits (36-29).
The Jaguars then went on an 11-0 run to push the lead to 50-29 with 15:13 to go, which coincided with a near-seven-minute stretch the Dukes were held without a field goal.
The Dukes would not get closer than 22 as they saw the USA lead balloon to as many as 34 in the loss.

Game Notes

South Alabama forced eight James Madison turnovers in the first half, scoring 11 points off the Dukes' miscues. The eight turnovers by JMU are tied for the second-most in a first half this season.
JMU notched its fifth run of 10-0 or greater this season, trimming a 30-10 South Alabama lead to 30-21 in 2:33 of game time (6:10-3:47).
South Alabama leads JMU 5-3 in the all-time series and improved to 6-2 at the Mitchell Center this season.
South Alabama, who came into the game third in the Sun Belt in field goal percentage defense, held the Dukes to 29.1 percent (16-55) from the floor.
JMU fell to 2-1 in Sun Belt openers since joining the league in 2022-23.
South Alabama is now 8-1 when scoring USA 7-1 when scoring 70 points or more this season.

Up Next
JMU will return from Christmas break to host Midway (Ky.) on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 5 p.m. inside the Atlantic Union Bank Center. The game will stream on ESPN+ and WSVA 92.1 FM | 550 AM and serve as one final non-conference game for the Dukes before welcoming Southern Miss (Jan. 2) and Arkansas State (Jan. 4) to kick off conference play.