Dukes Fall at First-Place Southern Miss

Saturday, January 21

Hattiesburg, Miss.

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

James Madison University

13-8,4-4Sun Belt

Southern Miss

17-4,6-2Sun Belt

James Madison

Southern Miss.

Terrence Edwards Georgia Southern 011423

1/21/2023 5:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - James Madison could not hold off a hot Southern Miss offense on Saturday afternoon, dropping an 83-70 decision to the Golden Eagles in Sun Belt Conference men's basketball at Reed Green Coliseum.

The Dukes (13-8, 4-4 SBC) battled throughout, forcing a dozen turnovers and pulling down 12 offensive rebounds, but could not slow down a USM (17-4, 6-2) offense that shot 60.4% (32-53) on the afternoon and racked up 42 points in the paint.

Sophomore Terrence Edwards continued his run of strong play, tallying 18 points and eight rebounds to pace the Dukes' offense. Junior guard Noah Freidel and graduate Takal Molson joined him in double figures, with Freidel hitting four three-pointers on his way to 14 points and Molson tallying 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.

USM forward DeAndre Pinckney went 11-15 from the field on his way to 28 points to go with five assists and four rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The two teams spent much of the opening minutes battling back and forth, with neither team taking a lead of more than four points until seven straight gave USM a 22-13 lead at the 10:31 mark.

The Dukes quickly cut it to three with an 8-2 run of their own, but that was as close as JMU would get in the opening period. The Eagles steadily increased their lead, eventually using a 10-1 run to make the advantage 43-28 before JMU scored the last eight points of the half to go to the break trailing 43-36.

Second Half
The Dukes cut the lead to five in the opening minutes of the second half, but USM ripped off an 11-3 run immediately after to take a 56-43 lead at the 15:26 mark.

JMU would get things to single-digits just once more the rest of the way, with Mezie Offurum scoring four straight points to cut the lead to nine, but the Eagles steadily increased the gap from there on out.

QUICK HITS
- Edwards' performance gives him at least 17 points in four straight games - he is averaging 18.5 points and 7.2 rebounds in that stretch.
- The Dukes are now 4-4 in league play, just two games out of first place.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will return home this coming weekend for a pair of contests before departing on a four-game road trip. Thursday night, JMU will welcome Coastal Carolina for a 7 p.m. bout at the Atlantic Union Bank Center.

On Saturday, the Chanticleers picked up an 85-81 overtime win over South Alabama, improving to 10-9 (4-4 SBC) on the season. Coastal faces Chicago State on Monday, Jan. 23, before heading to Harrisonburg.