Men's Hoops Opens CAA Tournament Against Elon

Saturday, March 7

Washington, D.C.

6:30 p.m.

James Madison University

Elon

3/6/2020 7:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

#10 James Madison Dukes (9-20, 2-16 CAA) vs. #7 Elon Phoenix (11-20, 7-11 CAA)

March 7, 2020 -- 6:30 PM

Washington, D.C. -- Entertainment & Sports Arena

Game Links

Live Stats · Video: FloHoops · Radio Broadcast

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No. 10 James Madison will open its 2020 Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship on Saturday evening, taking on No. 7 Elon in a 6:30 p.m. bout for the right to take on second-seeded William & Mary in Sunday's CAA Quarterfinals.
In the regular-season finale last Saturday, Hofstra's historic three-point shooting felled the Dukes in Hempstead, as the Pride knocked down 20 treys to erase a strong offensive evening from JMU and hand the Dukes a 97-81 loss that dropped them to 9-20 (2-16 CAA) on the season. Junior guard Matt Lewis led the way for JMU with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
At the end of the regular season, junior Matt Lewis leads the way with 19.0 points per game, while junior Darius Banks adds 12.3 points and sophomore Deshon Parker chips in 10.1 points and a team-high 4.0 assists per contest.
Junior Dwight Wilson currently ranks third in the league in rebounding (9.4rpg), just shy of being one of just three players averaging double digits, while Parker is second in assist-turnover ratio at 1.7.
Heading into the tournament, Lewis already sits in sole possession of fourth place on JMU's all-time scoring list, having racked up 1,557 career points to put himself just 144 points behind Kent Culuko (1,701 | 1991-95) in third place.
JMU will be looking to advance out of the CAA First Round for the third time in four years, after taking down Towson in a 74-73 victory last season at the North Charleston Coliseum.

SCOUTING THE PHOENIX

Elon enters the CAA Tournament fresh off back-to-back losses to close the regular season, but had won five of its last six contests prior to the final weekend to close the year at 11-20 (7-11 CAA) and claim the No. 7 seed for this weekend's event.
Graduate student Marcus Sheffield II led the way for the Phoenix all year, averaging 18.6 points and 5.2 rebounds on his way to Second Team All-CAA honors. Freshmen Hunter McIntosh and Hunter Woods were both named CAA All-Rookie.

SERIES HISTORY

After the Dukes won seven of the first nine contests between the two schools, Elon has won each of the last four matchups, including both regular-season contests this year, to cut JMU's advantage in the all-time series to 7-6.
The Dukes and Phoenix have never met in postseason play or on a neutral court - JMU owns a 4-3 edge in games played in Harrisonburg, while the series is tied at 3-3 on Elon's home court.
In the two teams' most recent meeting, cold second-half shooting allowed Elon to hand the Dukes a 70-62 loss in the penultimate game at the Convocation Center, despite four JMU players scoring in double figures. Junior Matt Lewis led the way with 23 points, including the 1,500th of his career, while juniors Darius Banks, Zach Jacobs and Dwight Wilson all added 11 points apiece.