JMU Returns to the Hardwood to Face Southern Miss Thursday Night

James Madison Dukes (7-6, 0-1 SBC) vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (6-7, 1-0 SBC)
Jan. 2, 2025 – 7 p.m. ET
Harrisonburg, Va. – Atlantic Union Bank Center

Game Links
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JMUSports.com · @JMUMBasketball · #GoDukes

DUKES OPEN 2025 WITH SUN BELT BATTLE AGAINST SOUTHERN MISS

James Madison men's basketball welcomes Sun Belt Conference foe Southern Miss to Harrisonburg and the Atlantic Union Bank Center on Thursday, Jan. 2. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+ with Curt Dudley, Kirby Dean, and Cece Evans and on WSVA 92.1 FM | 550 AM and the Varsity Network App with Dave Riggert.
JMU enters this game with a 7-6 record after toppling Midway (Ky.) 96-64 on Sunday, while Southern Miss sits at 6-7 after an 80-70 home win against William Carey on Monday night.
The Dukes are 0-1 in Sun Belt play, dropping a road contest at South Alabama (77-49, Dec. 21), while Southern Miss sits at 1-0 after taking down Marshall 68-66 on Dec. 21.
JMU has not defeated Southern Miss in two all-time meetings, with both contests occurring in Hattiesburg. The Dukes fell, 81-71, to the Golden Eagles on Jan. 4, 2024, and 83-70 on Jan. 21, 2023.

LAST TIME OUT

11 different James Madison players contributed to the scoring effort as the Dukes came away with a resounding 96-64 win over Midway (Ky.) on Sunday, Dec. 29 at the Atlantic Union Bank Center.
JMU (7-6, 0-1 Sun Belt) shot 52.9 percent from the floor and held Midway (3-7) to 31.4 percent (22-of-70).
Five Dukes scored in double figures, led by Bryce Lindsay and Eddie Ricks III, who each scored 13. Ricks III also tied a season-high eight rebounds.
JMU scored 55 points in the first half, the most in 2024-25 and the highest total since scoring 63 in the first half against Keystone on Dec. 3, 2023.
The Dukes finished with 56 total rebounds, their highest total since corralling 51 at Michigan State on Nov. 4, 2023.

ABOUT SOUTHERN MISS

Southern Miss comes to Harrisonburg with a 6-7 record after knocking off William Carey on Dec. 30 and taking down Marshall 68-66 in its Sun Belt opener on Dec. 21 at home.
The Golden Eagles were picked fifth in the preseason Sun Belt coaches poll while guard Andre Curbelo was named Third Team All-Sun Belt. USM welcomed back just 25.4 percent of its scoring from last season and only 28.8 percent of its minutes from the 2023-24 roster that finished 16-16 and 9-9 in league play.
Southern Miss opened its season with a win against Bowling Green in the MAC-SBC Challenge but have since dropped road contests to UAB, South Dakota State, Tulane and No. 19 Ole Miss and are 0-4 in true road games and 0-2 on neutral courts, dropping games to Montana State and Abilene Christian.
As a team, the Golden Eagles are just ninth in the Sun Belt in scoring (72.2 ppg) and 12th in points allowed (76.2 ppg). USM is allowing opponents to shoot 45.3 percent from the floor, the third-worst in the league. Southern Miss is tied for eighth in the Sun Belt in rebounding margin (+2.2) and 10th in turnover margin (-2.54).
Denijay Harris, a transfer from Arkansas, leads Southern Miss in scoring (17.2 ppg) and became just the fourth player in Southern Miss program history to record a 20-point, 20-rebound game when he had 20 points and 20 rebounds against Alabama State on Dec. 5.
Neftali Alvarez is the only other USM player averaging more than 10 points, as the sixth-year senior is scoring 12.1 points per game.

COOKIN' AT THE BANK

Dating back to the opening of the Atlantic Union Bank Center before the 2020-21 season, JMU owns a 49-15 (.765) record in home games.
This season, the Dukes are 5-1 at home with their only loss coming to George Mason (66-61) on Friday, Nov. 29.
In 2023-24, JMU finished 14-1 at home, its only loss coming to App State (59-55) on Jan. 13, 2024.
Against Sun Belt foes, the Dukes are 14-4 in home contests dating back to 2022-23. Their last loss at home to a Sun Belt opponent at home was to App State on Jan. 13, 2024.
Since the Atlantic Union Bank Center opened in 2020, the Dukes are 27-3 against non-conference foes. The loss to George Mason was JMU's first at home against a non-conference opponent since Jan. 3, 2021 against Morgan State (80-73).

TAYLOR, ANDERSON TRENDING UP

After falling out of the rotation at different points of the season, reserves Luke Anderson and Justin Taylor have upped their production in the past four games.
Taylor, who played a total of 10 minutes in the four games prior, is averaging 4.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game JMU's past four games while playing an average of nearly 20 minutes per game.
He played a season-high 24 minutes at Wake Forest on Dec. 17, scoring four points and grabbing two rebounds. Against Midway on Dec. 29, he tied his season-high in points (9), rebounds (5), and assists (3).
Luke Anderson has tallied his two highest scoring outputs of the season in the past four games and is averaging 7.3 points in that span. His season-high came against at Wake Forest (Dec. 17), where he scored 11 points - all in the second half.
Anderson has also knocked down 7-of-17 triples in his past four games, raising his season three-point percentage to 36.4 (12-of-33).
Anderson scored eight points while also grabbing a season-high eight rebounds against Midway on Dec. 29. After only averaging 2.1 rebounds per game through his first seven games, he has corralled 4.3 rebounds per game over the past four games.

PARKING
Reserved Parking

All parking pass holders — both Spot-Specific and Reserved — will enter through the North Entrance of the Ballard Parking Deck. For those entering through the North Entrance, all parking is reserved and first-come-first-serve. There will be no spot-specific parking available for doubleheaders.

General Parking

Accessible via the South Entrance of the Ballard Parking Deck as well as the adjacent surface lots (C12, D3, and R4), general parking is available beginning two hours before game time. General parking is free of charge, available on a first-come, first-served basis, and cannot be reserved in advance.

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