Men's Hoops Caps Road Weekend at First-Place Southern Miss

Saturday, January 21

Hattiesburg, Miss.

3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT

James Madison University

Southern Miss

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Men's Hoops Caps Road Weekend at First-Place Southern Miss

1/20/2023 5:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

James Madison Dukes (13-7, 4-3 SBC) at Southern Miss Golden Eagles (16-4, 5-2 SBC)

January 21, 2023 -- 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT

Hattiesburg, Miss. -- Reed Green Coliseum

Game Links
Live Stats · Video: ESPN+ · Audio Broadcast

Tickets · JMU Game Notes

JMUSports.com · @JMUMBasketball · #GoDukes

SouthernMiss.com · @SouthernMissMBB

QUICK HITS

James Madison men's basketball finishes a two-game road trip with a key road matchup at Southern Miss on Saturday afternoon.
JMU won a thriller at Troy on Thursday, rallying from 13 down in the second half to force overtime off of a Mezie Offurum tip-in with less than a second left. After a back-and-forth overtime still saw the game deadlocked, Vado Morse's jumper rattled in with 0.6 seconds left to give the Dukes an 89-87 victory. The win snapped a four-game overtime losing streak for JMU.
The Dukes sit at 4-3 in the league, including a 3-1 mar on the road, and are just one game out of first in the Sun Belt Conference standings. Four teams are currently 5-2, while three (including James Madison) are 4-3.
Redshirt senior Vado Morse proved to be the overtime hero, racking up 25 points on the night with 11 coming in overtime. Morse has now recorded consecutive games of 25 points or more in back-to-back campaigns.
In 20 games, JMU has shot 50% or better from the field 10 times, already its most such efforts in the last eight seasons. Justin Amadi (.653) and Offurum (.633) are both on pace to clock a top-10 single-season shooting percentage in program history.
Before Offurum tied things in the final seconds, Terrence Edwards scored eight consecutive points to help JMU climb within a possession. This included two baskets off offensive rebounds and a pair of free throws following his own steal. Edwards' 19 points against Troy marked the 10th time this season that the sophomore has put up at least 15 points in a game.
The Dukes grabbed 13 steals against Troy, adding to their already nation-leading total, which now sits at 219. The Dukes hit double-digits in steals for the 11th time this year on Thursday, already surpassing the 2021-22 team's double-digit steal games.
JMU allows just 30.0% three-point shooting to their opponents, the best perimeter defensive mark in the Sun Belt.
The Dukes have made 332 free throws at a .700 clip, ranking 20th in the nation in free throws made per game. JMU has made more free throws than its opponent in each of its first seven league games.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES

After a total of 24 wins in the last three seasons, Southern Miss has won 16 of its first 20 and has soared into first place in the SBC.
USM is 9-0 at Reed Green Coliseum this year, last winning on Thursday 76-72 over South Alabama.
Junior Austin Crowley averages 17.8 points per game, fifth in the league, and has scored at least 20 in four of USM's last six tilts.
The Eagles hold the top scoring defense in the SBC, allowing just 63.6 points per game, though their conference average is 69.0.
USM has the third-most assists in the league with 14.9 helpers per game.

SERIES HISTORY