Dukes Jump to Giant Victory Over Keystone

Sunday, December 3

Harrisonburg, Va.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

8-0,0-0Sun Belt

130

Keystone College

1-7,1-1United East

Keystone

James Madison

130

12/3/2023 3:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – In a resounding 130-59 victory at the Atlantic Union Bank Center on Sunday afternoon, all 15 players from #22 James Madison contributed to the scoreline against the Keystone Giants.

JMU (8-0) shot 60 percent in the victory, led by graduate student Michael Green III, who scored 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Terrence Edwards Jr. and Jaylen Carey added 16, as seven Dukes reached double figures. Noah Freidel and T.J. Bickerstaff notched 12 points, Xavier Brown pitched in 11 and Jerrell Roberson tied his career-high 10 points. The Dukes have opened the season with eight straight wins, matching their program's best starts in 1975-76 and 1981-82, both of which began with an 8-0 record.

Defensively, JMU outrebounded the Giants 67-18, led by Bickerstaff's 13 boards. JMU corralled 20 offensive rebounds and scored 23 second-chance points. The Dukes forced 20 turnovers, including 16 steals and six blocks. Freidel led JMU in blocks (3), while Bryant Randleman finished with a career-high six steals.

For Keystone (1-7), DaShaun Johnson finished with 12 points and Jack Anderson added 11, while Eli Rodriguez snagged three steals off the bench.

How It Happened
First Half

JMU hit four three-pointers in the game's first four minutes, giving the Dukes a 16-2 lead with 15:24 remaining in the half.
Xavier Brown hit a pair of free throws and added a layup as JMU extended its advantage to 22-6 at the under-12 timeout.
The Dukes continued to dominate the paint, as Green III and Jaylen Carey secured second-chance points to push the JMU lead to 36-13 with 7:49 remaining in the stanza.
Jerrell Roberson added his first points of the game, pushing the Dukes' advantage to 52-22 with 3:40 left.
Green III buried his third triple of the half at the buzzer, giving JMU a 63-30 lead at the break.

Second Half

JMU scored 18 points in the first five minutes, which saw its lead grow to 40 (81-41), and a Freidel three-pointer gave the Dukes an 88-43 lead with 13:02 remaining, its biggest lead of the contest.
The Dukes reached 100 points with over 10 minutes remaining, as Brown secured a three-pointer, giving JMU a 101-43 lead.
JMU emptied its bench, seeing all 15 players who entered the game score in the convincing victory.
Jerrell Roberson and T.J. Bickerstaff both finished with double-doubles. Jerrell scored 10 points to go with his 10 boards on 4-of-6 shooting. Bickerstaff scored 12 points on 6-of-7 from the field and grabbed 13 rebounds to go with 5 assists.
Quincy Allen slammed a windmill jam in the second half.
Hollman Smith, Shane Feden, Jarrell Pope, and Aidan Mckeon all scored in the final five minutes of play contributing to the team victory.

Game Notes

JMU's 63 first-half points were the second most in a first-half in program history, as the Dukes scored 72 in a 123-38 win over Valley Forge on Nov. 7, 2022.
Through eight games, the Dukes are averaging 95.40 points per game, the highest mark in the country as of Dec. 3.
JMU, now 8-0, joins Houston, Baylor, Colorado State, and Princeton as teams with eight wins and zero losses nationally.
Michael Green III's 21 points were a season-high, as the graduate student is averaging 12 points per game through eight contests, including 45.5 percent (20-of-44) from behind the arc.
Jaylen Carey scored a career-high 16 points in the contest, surpassing his previous best of eight, which came against Kent State on Nov. 9.
The Dukes finished with season highs in steals (16), assists (25), and rebounds (67).

Up Next
The Dukes will travel to Old Dominion to take on the Monarchs in the TowneBank Royal Rivalry Challenge on Saturday, Dec. 9. Tipoff from ODU is set for 7 p.m. from Chartway Arena, with Dave Riggert providing radio coverage through the JMU Radio Network 92.1 FM/550 AM and the Varsity Network App.