Dukes Run Away From Panthers, 83-63

Thursday, February 20

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

18-10,11-4Sun Belt

Georgia State

12-16,7-8Sun Belt

Georgia St.

James Madison

2/20/2025 11:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Redshirt freshman Bryce Lindsay scored 23 points and James Madison used a strong second half to pull away from Georgia State, 83-63, on Thursday evening inside Atlantic Union Bank Center.

JMU (18-10, 11-4) shot 58.1 percent from the field in the second half and held Georgia State (12-16, 7-8) to two made threes and two assists for the game. The Dukes won their eighth straight Sun Belt Conference game, the longest active streak in the league.

Along with Lindsay's 23 points, Elijah Hutchins-Everett scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half while also grabbing three rebounds, and junior AJ Smith corralled 10 boards for the fourth time this season. Xavier Brown (11) and Mark Freeman (11) also scored in double figures for the Dukes, who shot 47.5 percent (29-of-61) from the field.

Cesare Edwards paced Georgia State with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting, while Zarique Nutter and Malachi Brown each pitched in with 12 points.

How It Happened
James Madison 37, Georgia State 33

The Dukes connected on their first two three-point attempts of the contest as they jumped ahead to an 11-7 lead heading into the first media timeout.
After being held without a field goal for nearly three minutes, the Panthers went on a 10-0 run to secure their first lead of the game (21-19)
Back-to-back threes from Xavier Brown and AJ Smith put JMU back in front and began a 12-3 run for the Dukes heading into the under four-minute media timeout (31-25).
An alley-oop dunk from Bryce Lindsay to Ebenezer Dowuona allowed JMU to maintain their lead and hold a four-point advantage heading into halftime.

Second Half
James Madison 83, Georgia State 63

The Dukes opened the half on a 9-2 run and forced Georgia State to take their first timeout at the 16:08 mark. Brown was responsible for five of JMU's points during the run (46-35).
JMU's defense held the Panthers to only one make on their first eight field goal attempts of the half.
A pair of free throws from Freeman gave the Dukes a 20-point lead at the 10:43 mark (61-41).
JMU led by as many as 22 points en route to its fourth straight home victory and its third straight victory overall.

Game Notes

JMU won its sixth straight against Georgia State, moving to 11-9 all-time against the Panthers.
The Dukes also won their eighth straight Sun Belt Conference game and moved into a tie for first with South Alabama in the league standings.
JMU improved to 12-2 this season at home and is now 21-5 against Sun Belt opponents since joining the league in 2022-23.
The Dukes won by 20 points, their largest margin of victory versus a Division I opponent this season. JMU previously beat UIC by 18 (99-81) on Nov. 21.
Lindsay finished with five threes – bringing his season total to 75. He is now five threes away from tying Kent Culuko for the freshman record in made threes (80, 1991-92)
JMU improved to 3-5 when conceding a 10-0 run.
Lindsay has five games with 5+ three-pointers – one of six instances for JMU since 2004-05.
In the first half, Georgia State out-scored JMU 22-6 in the paint. In the second half, the Dukes flipped the script, out-scoring the Panthers 26-8.
Smith finished with 10 rebounds, the fourth time he has done that this season. The junior leads JMU in rebounds per game (6.3) and total rebounds (177).
JMU eclipsed 80 points for the third time in conference play and the seventh time overall this season. In those games, the Dukes are 7-0.
The Dukes held the Panthers to a season-low two assists and two made threes.