Late Rally Pushes Dukes Past Radford, 76-73

Friday, November 17

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

4-0,0-0Sun Belt

Radford

2-3,0-0Big South

Radford

James Madison

11/17/2023 10:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison men's basketball held Radford scoreless for the final 3:35 to escape with a 76-73 home win over Radford on Friday night inside the Atlantic Union Bank Center in front of 8,014 fans.

JMU (4-0) outscored the Highlanders (2-3) in the paint, 40-30, and sunk 16-of-21 (.762) from the free throw line to edge RU.

Redshirt junior Terrence Edwards Jr. paced the Dukes with 21 points, going 3-for-6 (.500) from deep. Graduate student T.J. Bickerstaff was a force underneath the basket with 20 points and a team-leading eight rebounds. Classmate Michael Green III dished out five assists to go along with eight points.

Daquan Smith led the charge, shooting 8-of-13 (.615) for 20 points. Kenyon Giles and Justin Archer chipped in with 15 and 14 points, respectively. T.J. Nesmith pulled down eight boards in the loss.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half

Bickerstaff recorded seven points on 3-of-5 (.600) from the field to give the Dukes a 15-11 edge at the first media timeout.
JMU's lead grew to seven (15-28) at the 7:59 mark as Edwards Jr. and redshirt senior Julien Wooden chipped in with seven points.
The Dukes' offense continued to churn to make it 35-25 with under four minutes left in the half.
Radford fired back with a quick 14-0 run span to take a 39-35 lead heading into the break.
JMU finished the half shooting 2-of-12 (.167) from three.

Second Half

The Highlanders' momentum continued as they made it a 46-40 game less than two minutes into the half.
James Madison responded, highlighted by an Edwards Jr. triple for a 50-48 advantage at the first media timeout.
The two teams traded scores over the next six minutes as the score read 58-58 with under 10 to go.
At the 7:14 mark of the second, Bickerstaff converted on an and-one opportunity to give the Dukes a 64-63 edge.
JMU faced a cold stretch late in the second, going without a made field goal in 4:46 as the Highlanders built a 73-70 advantage with under three to play.
Undeterred, Green drove baseline for a layup, while Bickerstaff knocked down a pair of free throws on the ensuing JMU possession for a 74-73 edge at the 1:22 mark.
Following a Radford timeout with 22 seconds left to play, Brown forced a held ball to give the Dukes possession with under nine seconds in regulation.
Edwards Jr. sunk two free throws in crunch time to seal the deal, 76-73.

GAME NOTES

James Madison leads the all-time series against Radford, 16-4.
The Dukes finished the game on a 6-0 run in the final 1:52, holding the Highlanders without a made field goal for the last 3:35.
JMU committed just nine turnovers, the first time it has finished with single digits in the category in 2023-24. Additionally, it's the program's lowest since recording seven last season against South Alabama in the Sun Belt Championship semifinals on March 5.
The Dukes trailed at halftime for the first time in the 2023-24 campaign.
Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 20-plus points for the third time this season.
The attendance of 8,014 is the second-biggest men's basketball crowd at the Atlantic Union Bank Center. The record is 8,439, set on Dec. 7, 2021, when the Dukes defeated Virginia, 52-49.

UP NEXT
The Dukes head to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge where they will face Southern Illinois (Nov. 21) before playing either Fresno State or New Mexico (Nov. 22). Both games will stream on the CBS Sports Network.