Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Akron on November 3, 2025 , Loss , 71, to, 85
MBB
Final
James Madison
71
at Akron
85
James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
Monday, November 3
Akron, Ohio
7 p.m.
James Madison University
at
Akron
Men's Basketball Tips Off 2025-26 Season at Akron Monday
11/1/2025 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
JMU TREKS TO AKRON TO TIP OFF 2025-26
ON THE AIR
DUKES PICKED AS SUN BELT FAVORITES
13 NEWCOMERS MAKE UP 2025-26 ROSTER
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DUKES' HISTORY IN OPENERS
JMU VS. THE MAC
JMU VS. AKRON
2024-25 SUN BELT REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS
AKRON RIDING HOME WINNING STREAK
- James Madison men's basketball will open its 2025- 26 season on the road with a game against Mid- American Conference favorite Akron on Monday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. inside James A. Rhodes Arena.
- The Dukes will open on the road for the second time in the last three seasons after knocking off No. 4 Michigan State to open the 2023-24 season.
- This game serves as the opening game for both teams in the 2025-26 MAC-SBC Challenge. Last season, JMU won its season-opener over Ohio in the first leg of the challenge before dropping a February road tilt at Toledo.
- The Dukes will have a quick turnaround after Monday's game as they are set to host Washington & Lee on Wednesday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. in the home opener inside the Atlantic Union Bank Center. The game will be on ESPN+ with Curt Dudley (PxP) and Kirby Dean (analyst).
ON THE AIR
- Monday's game in Akron will stream on ESPN+ with Michael Reghi (PxP) and Jeff Phelps (Analyst)
- The game will also be carried on WSVA 92.1 FM | 550 AM and the Varsity Network App with Dave Riggert, with coverage beginning 30 minutes before tip inside James A. Rhodes Arena.
DUKES PICKED AS SUN BELT FAVORITES
- JMU was voted as the preseason favorite in the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll on Oct. 20.
- This matchup pits two preseason favorites in their respective leagues, as Akron was chosen as the favorite in the MAC with 11 of 13 first-place votes.
- In total, eight different teams received first-place votes in the Sun Belt preseason poll.
- South Alabama led the way with four tallies while Arkansas State (3) and Old Dominion (2) also picked up multiple first-place votes.
- Despite just one first-place vote, JMU tallied 175 total points, 19 more than Arkansas State (154) in second. Other teams to pick up a first-place vote include Troy, Marshall, App State, and Louisiana.
13 NEWCOMERS MAKE UP 2025-26 ROSTER
- James Madison' 2025-26 men's basketball roster features 13 new players - 10 transfers and three first-year players.Â
- Paul Jones III joins JMU following a year at Winthrop, where he was named to the Big South All-Freshman team while averaging 7.6 points per game.Â
- Bradley Douglas is an experienced guard with stops at Georgia Southern (2024-25) and Little Rock (2023-24), along with three years in the junior college ranks.Â
- Cliff Davis, a high-volume shooter, played at UTRGV last season and is a career 38.5 percent shooter from behind the arc and also spent two seasons at the JUCO level before spending a season at Northwestern State (2023-24) along with UTRGV.
- Paul Lewis - the brother of former JMU guard Matt Lewis - joins the Dukes after a season at UTSA and two at Vanderbilt. Kose Egbule and Gabe Newhof join JMU from the NAIA ranks, as both were named Third Team All-Americans following the 2024-25 season at Dickinson State (N.D.) and Spring Arbor, respectively.Â
- Josh Stephen played the first three years of his career at Shenandoah University and will have one year of eligibility remaining.Â
- Justin McBride (Nevada), Ike Cornish (Nicholls), and Eli Wilborn (Duquesne) round out the portal class for JMU.Â
- Christian Brown, Preston Fowler, and Chance Lundy join the Dukes as first-year players. Brown and Fowler were highly-touted recruits out of high school, while Lundy joins JMU after helping lead the Dukes' club basketball team to a national title in 2024.Â
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DOUGLAS SELECTED FIRST TEAM ALL-SUN BELT
- JMU guard Bradley Douglas was the Dukes' lone representative on the preseason All-Sun Belt teams, as the transfer from Georgia Southern was voted First Team All-Sun Belt.Â
- In 2024-25, Douglas appeared in 33 games while starting nine for Georgia Southern, averaging 12.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game for the Eagles.Â
- Douglas had a pair of 30-point games - 31 vs. Gardner-Webb on Dec. 17, 2024 and 30 against ULM on Jan. 2.Â
- Douglas began his career at Santa Fe College in 2020-21 and 2021-22 before transferring to Florida Southwestern State for the 2022-23 season.Â
- He scored 1,120 points during his junior college career before moving up to the Division I ranks at Little Rock (2023-24) and Georgia Southern (2024-25).Â
- Douglas was joined on the First Team by Robert Davis Jr. (Old Dominion), Thomas Dowd (Troy), Tyren Moore (Georgia Southern), and Jalen Speer (Marshall). Davis Jr. was voted the league's preseason Player of the Year.
DUKES' HISTORY IN OPENERS
- JMU has won eight straight season openers, dating back to a 62-55 loss to Old Dominion on Nov. 11, 2016.
- Â Last season, the Dukes took down Ohio 88-78 inside the Atlantic Union Bank Center on Nov. 4 to open the 2024-25 campaign. Â
- JMU Head Coach Preston Spradlin is 4-4 in season openers in his career, dating back to the 2017-18 season at Morehead State.
- Since 2000, JMU is 14-10 in season openers.
JMU VS. THE MAC
- JMU is 15-10 against current members of the MAC Conference. Its last meeting against a member of the MAC was Feb. 8, 2025, at Toledo, where the Rockets came away with a 72-69 win.
- In MAC-SBC Challenge games, JMU is 3-1 dating back to the first season of the challenge in 2023-24. The Dukes have defeated Kent State in double overtime, 113-108, on Nov. 9, 2023, Akron at home, 73-59, on Feb. 10, 2024, and Ohio, 88-78, at home on Nov. 4, 2024.
JMU VS. AKRON
- JMU and Akron have met three times, with the Dukes having won two of three previous matchups.
- The last meeting between the schools came Feb. 10, 2024, in Harrisonburg, Va., as part of the MAC-SBC Challenge.
- The teams split a home-and-home series in 2002-03 and 2003-04, with the home team winning both matchups.Â
2024-25 SUN BELT REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS
- In his first season as head coach of James Madison men's basketball, Preston Spradlin continued his winning ways as a head coach.
- Spradlin led the Dukes to a 20-12 overall record and a share of the regular-season Sun Belt Conference title  with a 13-5 record in league play.
- After starting conference play with a 3-4 record, JMU rattled off 10 straight wins in league play before dropping the regular-season finale at Texas State in double overtime.
- For Spradlin, the regular-season crown marked his third consecutive, going back to his final two seasons at Morehead State and his first at JMU. He also won the Ohio Valley Conference tournament in 2020-21 and 2023-24 during his tenure with the Eagles.
- During his time at Morehead State, Spradlin accumulated a 140-109 (.562) record. In his last four seasons, he guided his teams to a 94-40 overall record and a 58-16 conference mark, along with regular-season and tournament success.
- He led MSU to its second appearance in the Division I Men's Basketball Championship in 2023-24, their second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the past four seasons under Spradlin's leadership.
- The Eagles finished with 22 or more wins in his final four seasons, a first for the Morehead State program that began in 1929.
AKRON RIDING HOME WINNING STREAK
- Akron has not lost at home since a 61-60 setback to Eastern Michigan on March 5, 2024. The Zips have won 16 straight games inside James A. Rhodes Arena - going 16-0 at home last season.
- Furthermore, Akron has not lost a home opener  since Nov. 15, 2009, when it fell to Austin Peay 80-77.
- In the past five seasons, Akron is 65-6 at home.
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