JMU Clinches Regular-Season Wins Record with 83-63 win over Georgia State

Thursday, February 15

Harrisonburg, Va.

8 p.m.

James Madison University

23-3,10-3Sun Belt

Georgia State

11-14,5-8Sun Belt

Georgia St.

James Madison

JMU Clinches Regular-Season Wins Record with 83-63 win over Georgia State

2/15/2024 11:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The James Madison men's basketball team set a program record for regular-season wins as the Dukes earned their 23^rd triumph of the season with an 83-63 Sun Belt Conference victory over Georgia State on Thursday night at the Atlantic Union Bank Center.

Atlanta natives Terrence Edwards Jr. and T.J. Bickerstaff each had 20-point nights, scoring 28 and 21 points, respectively for the Dukes. Bickerstaff and Noah Freidel had a team-high nine rebounds, while freshman Jaylen Carey scored 10 points to round out the JMU players in double figures.

JMU (23-3, 10-3 SBC) jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first five minutes of play, and built that to a 31-point first-half lead (43-12) with another 17-2 run while owning the lead wire-to-wire in a home victory.

Julian Mackey had a career and team-high 18 points, while Leslie Nkereuwem also reached his season-high with 15 points to lead Georgia State. Malik Ferguson added 12 points. The Panthers had 11-0 runs in both halves, but were unable to dig out of the deficit on the road.

How it Happened
1^st Half

JMU opened the game on a 17-0 run, making its first seven shots of the game. The Dukes' defense held Georgia State 0-for-10 in its first 10 attempts.
Jaylen Carey scored five straight points including his fourth 3-pointer of the season.
Georgia State found rhythm, making four of its next six shots, but the Dukes scored another nine straight to make it 35-10. This extended as a part of a 17-2 run over a four-minute stretch.
Carey hit another 3-pointer and added another layup with a strong finish underneath. This put the Dukes up by 31 points (43-12).
GSU went on an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to cut it down to a 20-point game (43-23).
T.J. Bickerstaff followed up a JMU miss with a put-back jam. Edwards Jr. finished at the rim for two more points on the next trip up the court, giving him 16 points in the first half, and bringing the Dukes to the intermission with a 51-26 lead.
JMU held the Panthers to shoot just 27.6 percent in the first 20 minutes of action (8-for-29).

2^nd Half

After scoring 12 first half points, T.J. Bickerstaff scored the first six points of the second half for JMU.
Georgia State hit five of its first eight shots, and the teams were tied 11-11 in second half scoring heading into the first media timeout.
JMU built back up to a 29-point advantage, 62-33, but the Panthers outscored the Dukes 30-21 from this point.
Over the next eight minutes, Nkereuwem scored 11 points for GSU. The Panthers were shooting 61 percent (11-of-18) in the second half, and outscored the Dukes, 26-15. JMU was shooting just 36.4 percent for the half (4-11).
After pulling to its largest lead of the second half, JMU was outscored 20-4 by GSU.
The Dukes then had a stretch of nine minutes where they missed seven consecutive field goals while GSU made it a 75-61 game.
Terrence Edwards Jr. hit a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to give the Dukes their first field goal in nearly 10 minutes. Julien Wooden followed that up and also hit a three on the next trip up the court to make it a 20-point game again. This wrapped up the scoring for either side.

Other Notes

JMU won its third consecutive game against Georgia State, improving to 8-9 versus the Panthers.
The Dukes registered their 23rd win, surpassing the 1981-82 squad for most regular-season victories.
JMU's 51 points in the first half marks the eighth time it has scored 50 or more points in a half this season.
Edwards Jr. finished with 28 points including a perfect 12-of-12 from the charity stripe. The redshirt junior leads the team with 17 points per game, scoring 20 or more points for the seventh time this season.
Carey finished with 10 points and a career-high two made 3-pointers.
JMU scored the game's first 17 points, leading for all 40 minutes and by as many as 31 (43-12) with 4:12 in the first half.
Julien Wooden went 1-for-1 from behind the arc and leads JMU with a 39.3 3-point percentage this season.
The Dukes 28 made free throws is a season-high, surpassing their previous best of 24 at Kent State on Nov. 9. Their 90.3 percent clip from the charity stripe was also the team's best mark this season.
JMU held a slight edge in rebounds (35-29), points in the paint (34-24), and steals (11-9).

What's Next
The Dukes will honor seven players as a part of their Senior Day celebration as they host Georgia Southern on Saturday at 6 p.m.