JMU Dominates Georgia State, 80-65, for Fifth Straight Win

Saturday, February 21

Atlanta, Ga.

4 p.m.

James Madison University

16-13,8-8Sun Belt

Georgia State

10-19,7-9Sun Belt

James Madison

Georgia St.

JMU Dominates Georgia State, 80-65, for Fifth Straight Win

2/21/2026 6:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

ATLANTA – Cliff Davis poured in a season-high 27 points, and James Madison men's basketball shot 56.4 percent from the field, cruising to an 80-65 win over Georgia State on Saturday afternoon at the GSU Convocation Center.

JMU (16-13, 8-8 Sun Belt) won its fifth straight game, finishing 31-of-55 (.564) from the field and leading wire-to-wire. The Dukes dominated the interior, outrebounding Georgia State (10-19, 7-9 SBC) 37-20 and finishing with a season-high 58 points in the paint.

Along with a season-high 27 points, Davis finished 10-of-14 from the field and made a pair of threes, bringing his season total to 90. Gabe Newhof finished with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting, his most points against a Division I opponent this season. Kose Egbule led the Dukes with nine rebounds, also a season high.

Micah Tucker finished with 22 points to lead Georgia State in scoring. Jelani Hamilton - the Sun Belt's leading scorer - finished with 19 points but on 6-of-20 shooting.

How It Happened
First Half: James Madison 40, Georgia State 26

The Dukes sprinted out to a 13-2 lead and made 10 of their first 13 shots to hold a commanding 23-8 lead at the under-12 timeout.
A jumper from Georgia State's Micah Tucker trimmed the Panthers' deficit to four (30-26) with 3:09 left in the half, but the Dukes ended the half on a 10-0 run to go into the locker room up 14.

Second Half: James Madison 80, Georgia State 65

Out of the break, JMU grew its lead to 16 (46-30) with just over 16 minutes left.
Panthers cut their deficit to single digits (59-50) with 7:44 left, but the Dukes pushed their lead back to double digits and cruised the rest of the way.

Game Notes

JMU improved to 13-9 in the all-time series against Georgia State, winning its eighth straight game against the Panthers.
Newhof's 18 points marked his ninth game in double figures this season and most against a Division I opponent. Newhof scored a season-high 20 points against Washington & Lee on Nov. 5.

Davis finished with 27 points for his 12th straight game with 10 or more points. During that stretch, Davis has five 20-point games.
Under Preston Spradlin, JMU improved to 12-4 in the month of February and 6-1 in conference road games in that same span.
JMU finished with a field-goal percentage of 56.4 (31-55). It is the highest percentage against a Sun Belt opponent since shooting 62.5 percent against Arkansas State in the 2024 Sun Belt Championship.
The Dukes turned over the Panthers 12 times, leading to 19 points off turnovers and 23 fast-break points.
Davis finished with two threes, bringing his season total to 90. He is now one three away from tying Julius Wells (91, 2009-10) for fifth on the JMU single-season list. He is now one of six JMU players to ever make 90 or more threes in a season.