Quick Thoughts on the Loss to Robert Morris
JMU lost to Robert Morris by the score of 82-77 in the Convo. The loss dropped the Dukes to 1-2 on the season. It was a back and forth game and the Dukes were in a position to win late. Unfortunately, they couldn’t stop Robert Morris down the stretch and they couldn’t pull off the win. Humpty Hitchens and AJ Davis led the way with 21 and 22 points respectively. Humpty also had a career high 10 assists. Here are 3 quick thoughts on the game.
We’ve Seen This Movie Before
Robert Morris’s Velton Jones went off for a career high 38 points. The junior guard averaged 12 points a game last season but shot 10-15 from the field against JMU. It reminded me a lot of last year when guys like Cam Long or random goofy white guys from W&M had career nights against the Dukes. Bad luck or bad defense? Probably a little more of the latter.
JMU Shot the Three Well…
But they didn’t do much else on offense. JMU was 16-34 from behind the arc as a team thanks to the hot shooting of Humpty and Davis. Combined the two players went 10-15. Unfortunately, the Dukes only hit 6 shots inside the arc (not the paint, the arc) all night. Devon Moore’s return should help due to his experience running the offense and his ability to get to the basket. With Rayshawn Goins out indefinitely though, someone else is going to have to step up down low to keep defenders from extending out to the perimeter and locking down on 3 point shooters.
Sample Size
The Dukes are 1-2 and let one get away at home. It’s only been 3 games though. That’s not nearly enough of a sample to draw any real conclusions from. But (there’s always a but) the defense has room for improvement. Yes, we’re only 3 games in but JMU is giving up 82.3 points a game. And in case you don’t know, that it is a lot. A whole lot. This is going to be the year we finally see a JMU team play defense according to Coach Brady. We certainly haven’t seen it yet, but maybe this is just the transition period. Please tell me this is just the transition period.
