Freeman’s 30-Point Outburst Pushes JMU Past Southern Miss, 83-72

Thursday, January 2

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

8-6,1-1Sun Belt

Southern Miss

6-8,1-1Sun Belt

Southern Miss.

James Madison

Freeman’s 30-Point Outburst Pushes JMU Past Southern Miss, 83-72

1/2/2025 11:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Redshirt senior Mark Freeman poured in 30 points to lead James Madison men's basketball past Southern Miss, 83-72, on Thursday evening inside the Atlantic Union Bank Center.

Freeman scored 22 of his 30 points in the second half and finished 9-of-16 from the field for his fourth career 30-point game. The 30 points are the most by a JMU (8-6, 1-1 Sun Belt) player this season and the first Duke to eclipse 30 since Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 30 at Georgia State on Feb. 28, 2024.

AJ Smith finished with 13 points – 12 in the second half – and corralled five rebounds. Eddie Ricks III and Elijah Hutchins-Everett collected seven boards and tallied 11 and nine points, respectively. As a team, JMU shot 47.3 percent from the field and tied a season-low eight turnovers.

Andre Curbelo led Southern Miss (6-8, 1-1 SBC) with 24 points and 10 rebounds, the second double-double of his career. Coble Montgomery (12) and Christian Watson (11) reached double figures for the Golden Eagles.

How It Happened
First Half: James Madison 33, Southern Miss 31

JMU opened the game with back-to-back 3-pointers from Xavier Brown and Mark Freeman to give the Dukes a 12-7 lead over the Golden Eagles at the 14:30 mark.
JMU held Southern Miss to three field goals in the first eight minutes and built a 16-7 lead.
The Golden Eagles used a 10-0 run to swing ahead 17-16 with just under 10 minutes left, just the third run of 10-0 or greater the Dukes have surrendered this season.
Elijah Hutchins-Everett scored JMU's first field goal in 6:23 to tie the game at 19 apiece with 7:39 left.
Brown scored his team-leading 10th point of the half on a three-pointer at the buzzer, giving JMU a 33-31 lead at the break.

Second Half: James Madison 50, Southern Miss 41

JMU jumped ahead 39-34 on a fast-break dunk from Ricks III which forced a USM timeout early in the half.
Freeman hit another three-pointer to push the lead to eight (48-40) at the under-16 timeout.
USM could not get any closer than six (64-58) the rest of the way as the Dukes pulled away for the win.

Game Notes

James Madison improved to 1-2 against Southern Miss.
JMU also moved to 8-0 this season when scoring 70 points or more.
Freeman finished the game with a season-highs in points (30) and field goals made (9). The 30 points is the most any JMU player has scored in a single game all season.
Denijay Harris, who came into the game averaging 17.2 points per game, was limited to five points tonight.
Will Lovings-Watts made his JMU debut, scoring five points and grabbing two rebounds in 10 minutes.
The Dukes scored 50 points in the second half, their fourth half scoring 50 points or more this season and the second time against a Division I opponent (54 vs. UIC, 11/21/24).
JMU had three turnovers in the second half, tied for its lowest total in a second half this season (Jax State, 11/23/24)
Southern Miss outrebounded JMU 36-35, just the fourth time the Dukes have lost the rebounding battle. JMU improved to 2-2 in games in which it was outrebounded.

Up Next
JMU will host Arkansas State on Saturday at 4 p.m. inside the Atlantic Union Bank Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Curt Dudley (PxP), Kirby Dean (color), and Cece Evans (sideline) and on WSVA 92.1 FM | 550 AM and the Varsity Network App with Dave Riggert.