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Louisiana welcomed James Madison to the Cajundome Thursday night, their first ranked opponent since 2006. Both the Dukes and Cajuns battled throughout this game, with Louisiana cutting a late 10-point deficit to just one. However, JMU was able to hit critical shots in the final minute to stay undefeated and snap the Cajuns’ home winning streak in a 68-61 victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Cajuns came out firing to open the game, holding a 9-4 lead at the first media timeout of the game. Hosana Kitenge led the Cajuns with four points early on.
At the under-12 timeout with 11:08 remaining, Louisiana still held a five-point lead at 12-7 but hadn’t scored in the previous 4:05. Defensively, the Cajuns held James Madison to 2-14 shooting in the first nine minutes of the contest.
As JMU tightened the lead to 14-11, Louisiana got a critical three from Blake Butler to put them ahead 17-11 with 7:54 remaining in the first half in front of arguably the largest Cajundome crowd of the 2023 season.
At the final media timeout of the first half, Louisiana held a 23-18 lead over the Dukes by shooting 39% from the field. Kitenge continued to lead the way for the Cajuns with nine points on 3-4 shooting.
JMU went on a 4-0 run to end the first half at a 23-22 score. In the first half, the Cajuns shot 9-28 from the field and 2-7 from behind the three-point line. Early in the second half, Louisiana ripped off five points to take a 28-24 lead, but six points from JMU gave them the lead before a Kentrell Garnett three gave the Cajuns the 33-31 advantage at the 16-minute media timeout.
Louisiana and JMU kept battling to a 40-40 tie exactly eight minutes into the second half. The Dukes shot 73% from the field to open the second half and keep themselves in the game.
Over the next five minutes, James Madison went on a 19-4 run to take a 54-44 lead with 7:52 left in the game. Terrence Edwards Jr and TJ Bickerstaff were big in that run for the Dukes with 8 points to cap the run.
The Cajuns answered with a big stretch of their own, cutting the lead to just one with 3:03 remaining. JMU didn’t make a shot for the preview two minutes while Louisiana played stellar defense down the stretch.
JMU hit a clutch three late in the game up two to put the game away as the Dukes stayed undefeated with a 68-61 win.
BIG NUMBER: 56%
Louisiana shot 56% from the free-throw line, making 10-18. JMU was 15-24 from the charity stripe.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Terrence Edwards Jr
The two-time SBC Player of the Week scored 19 points for JMU on 5-11. The junior combo guard also added six rebounds and five assists on the night.
UP NEXT: Louisiana returns home to the Cajundome to host Coastal Carolina on Saturday night. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.