Poor Free Throw Shooting Dooms the Dukes

JMU lost another close one, falling 64-62 to Georgia State at the Convo. The loss dropped the Dukes to 16-14 (10-7). Georgia State got back to .500 and now sits at 15-15 (10-7). JMU let Georgia State get out to a lead out of the gate and then let them pull away with a run to open the second half. Fortunately, they were able to rally back and erase a double-digit deficit behind the play of A.J. Davis. Davis had one of his best games in a JMU uniform and finished with 22 and 10. The best the Dukes could do was tie it up however. After knotting it up at 58-58, Georgia State calmly hit free throw after free throw. And JMU didn’t, hitting only 1 out of its final 4 attempts from the stripe.  And that was pretty much all she wrote.

What We Liked

A.J. Davis put the team on his back yesterday. It’s hard to believe that he is the same player who was suspended indefinitely earlier in the year and had fans (including us) questioning his effort. When the Dukes found themselves down by double-digits, Davis simply elevated his game above the level of anyone else on the court. His teammates quickly matched his energy level and after a furious rally, the Dukes were able to tie it up. And of course there was a spectacular dunk thrown in for good measure. It was the sort of game every player probably dreams of having on his Senior Day. The dream just had a nightmare ending due to the loss.

What We Didn’t Like

The free throw shooting by the Dukes was awful. As spectacular as Davis’ game was, he missed 2 free throws that could have given JMU the lead with 1:48 left. And Devon missed one just seconds earlier that could have tied it up. They were pressure packed free throws, but that doesn’t excuse it. You simply can’t expect to win close games (or tournament games) if you can’t hit the freebies. JMU played really well in the open court. The Dukes won the battle in the paint, outscoring the Panthers 24-22. They had more second chance points, more fast break points, more points off turnovers, and more bench points. But JMU they only shot 57% from the line. Georgia State shot 94%, including a perfect 17 for 17 in the second half. Ballgame.

Free throw shooting is a huge issue for this team. Despite the stellar D, the Dukes give their opponents a lot of chances at the line. They have the 4th worst defensive Free Throw Rate (FTA/FGA) in the CAA at 41.8. If you’re not familiar with FTR, that means for every 10 FG the Dukes opponent’s shoot, they attempt 4 free throws. Conversely, league leading Northeastern has a FTR of 26.9. And the Dukes only shoot 69% from the line, which is worse than every CAA team except  three teams that are ineligible for the tourney (UNCW, Towson, & ODU) and  a team that might as well be (Hofstra).

What We’re Not Sure How to Feel About

Andrey Semenov announced that he’s not going to be ready for the CAA Tournament. His season is done. We obviously don’t like that. He also said that he’s applying for a medical redshirt and hoping to play next year. That would be good. There is some good young talent on this roster, but JMU could use some veteran leadership next year. Andrey could provide it. So, while we’re cautiously optimistic about the idea of Andrey suiting up for JMU next season, a large part of us would gladly trade that for him playing down this year’s stretch.

Photo courtesy of jmusports.com