JMU Falls to Northeastern 95-94 in Triple OT
JMU fans were treated to free basketball tonight. It ended up not being the bargain we were hoping for. The Dukes fell to Northeastern by the score of 95-94 in triple overtime. Ron Curry made his return to the court after missing last game at UNCW. He came off the bench to score 21 points in the loss. Yohanny Dalembert had a monster game with 26 points and 10 boards. Joey McLean continued to impress, pouring in 15 points, while Jackson Kent added 12. Yet, JMU lost. And it was primarily because Northeastern’s Quincy Ford hit all the baskets, dropping 36 points on the Dukes. Let’s break down the game by the numbers.
41Â
The number free throws Northeastern attempted. If you’re scoring at home, yes that is 20 more than JMU shot for the game. Before we go down the road of ranting about the officiating, let’s point out that this was largely due to JMU settling for jumpers far too often instead of going to the hole. The Dukes could have closed the game out in regulation and again in OT with a simple bucket, but Ron Curry opted to shoot threes. To his credit, he adjusted his game and went aggressively to the bucket to force a third OT. Too many times tonight though, the Dukes were forced to settle for jumpers away from the basket with the shot clock winding down. And I know we said we wouldn’t complain about the officials, but 20 free throw attempts in a triple overtime game? Come on.
23
Believe it or not, that’s the number of assists JMU had. The Dukes assisted on 23 of their 36 field goals. That’s a sign of some unselfish play.
15
How many times the lead changed hands tonight. We’re working through the frustration from the loss, but this was a tight game that really could have gone either way. Still hurts though.
10.1
That’s the difference between the two teams’ shooting percentages. JMU hit 47.4% from the field and held Northeastern to 37.1%. Quincy Ford racked up a bunch of buckets, but he didn’t shoot particularly well from the field. He was a respectable 10 for 26. The rest of the Huskies went 15 for 41. JMU actually played pretty good defense.
1
How many three pointers Ron Curry hit. He attempted 8. It was great to see Curry back on the floor. He played a good game and helped keep the Dukes in the game all night. But he didn’t have his long range game tonight. Shooters get cold. It happens.
7
Looking at the boxscore, it’s really tough to see how JMU lost. In a 3 OT game we could point to any single mistake, such as one of the Dukes’ missed layups. Or we could chalk it up to one particular nice play by the Huskies, such as Quincy Ford’s buzzer beating three to close the first half. Or we could point out that JMU missed 7 of its 21 free throw attempts. And if we’re being honest, one of those was supposed to be a miss to give JMU a shot at a rebound and late bucket. Regardless, JMU shot 67% from the line. That’s not terrible, but it’s not good enough to win a close game either.
It was a tough loss. Great game to watch, but also a frustrating game to watch. I love Ron Curry’s game and have no idea where the Dukes would be without him on the floor, but at the end of the half and the end of games, there is no doubt he is taking the shot. This turns the play into a one on five situation. Would love to see the team run a play at the end of the game or half instead. He can still take the shot on most occasions, but there needs to be the threat that one of the other four players are on the court could get into the play.
YoYo had a great game. I think he could have scored 50 if we didn’t settle for so many long range jumpers. They really didn’t have an answer for him.
Oh well, it all comes down to 3 nights in Baltimore.
Go Dukes!
Missing free throws is the worst. I didn’t see the game but I’m curious about the plays Brady drew up to get buckets late in the OTs. Were they actually plays or was Curry expected to ‘make something happen’?
That cheesy 3 pointer due to a turnover at the end of the first half ended up being the difference.
Brady, like Mickey Matthews with football, has done some good things. But it’s time for him to go. It just is.
@Priz to me, it really looked like Brady just trusted Curry to make a play. I’m OK with that in theory, but as OBXDuke83 pointed out, it was painfully obvious to everyone that Curry was going to keep the ball and take the shot. I would have preferred they put the ball in Curry’s hands and instructed him to either get to the rim or find the open man. Dribbling around and settling for a jumper didn’t get it done. To his credit (or the coaches’) Curry actually drove to the basket in the second OT after missing jumpers at the end of regulation and the first OT though./
This ‘L’ is on Brady — some really poor game management by the coach and the end of regulation and 1st OT.
Weird rotation in OTs with only Satkus subbing in and then for Yoyo who was playing great and doing a nice job protecting the rim. Fresh legs from Grays/Brown/Morgan would have been nice in OT. Sitting Brown for most of 2nf half and all OTs was very odd. Would have been nice to have Brown with the ball in his hands at the end of shot clocks instead of Tom jacking up 3’s.
My comments were, by no means, meant to start the Brady must go talk. I really like Brady and what he has done. I also really like this team. I think they go through phases during games where they seem to go away from what the coach is asking them to do. Maybe that is on the coaching staff, and they need to do something to refocus the team when that starts to happen, but I think their game plan is sound.
As far as the end of the half and end of the game, give it to Ron and let him do his thing is ok as long as his thing includes the threat of a pass. I think the team is not making themselves available for that pass to come…for whatever reason.
There is a lot to like about this team and Brady. Still a big supporter. Mostly frustrated over last night.
Let’s face it…if Curry hits that shot at the end I am just saying “Great game!”
FWIW I didn’t take your comments as being overly critical of Brady or even leading anyone down that road. He didn’t coach a perfect game, but I can’t put the loss on him. It came down to a single bucket. Brady put the ball in the hands of his best player and a senior. More times than not Curry would get it done. He didn’t last night. It happens.
I think Brady’s in fine shape. I’m way more concerned with the unpredictability of Shakir Brown, who all-CAA on e night, all-beer league the next. He’s gotta figure out who he’s going to be, and he needs to bring some production for this team to go deep in the conference tournament.
There’s plenty to be critical of Brady about. I don’t think he has a plan. He probably tells Jeff Bourne he wants to run a press defense like VCU or now UNCW, but he’s had years to recruit players to fit into that style and never did. And a coach who’s been at JMU as long as Brady has doesn’t take in a bunch of transfers and junior college players. That’s the kind of thing a coach does in years 1-3 as a stop gap. I’m more upset about a lack of a consistent plan than how they play game to game, and so should the JMU administration.
Just returned from the 2hr trip to the ‘Burg . Was at both the Northeastern and Delaware games. Although I don’t get the lack of substitution in the NE game , the team still played hard and unselfishly,and it was a blast to watch in person,except the losing part.
The team just won it’s 20th game of the season , a benchmark of success as far as I’m concerned. Brady has done it 4x in 8 years , with a fifth season at 19! I really don’t give a rip what defense or offense is run, or whether you
tell us what it will be. Just win.
If you want to make a coaching change be careful what you wish for because the men’s basketball program doesn’t carry the collateral that the football program has in attracting new talent by way of facilities and legacy.
I’m good with Coach Brady.
GO DUKES!
Brady has a 138-125 record and every other year has a losing his record. 20 wins ain’t what they used to be when you play 33-35 games in a season.
I don’t understand the inconsistency in demanding accountability from Mikey Matthews but not from Brady. I’m just assuming folks don’t have the same level of general understanding about basketball as they seem to for football.
People demanded accountability from Mickey because he was barely above .500 with a program that had more money, better facilities, and more support than any other CAA program and practically every FCS program in the country. Our hoops program doesn’t have the same sort of advantages. And I don’t think anyone is saying Brady shouldn’t be held accountable. He’s won 68% of his games going back to last year. That’s not something that usually results in folks calling for a coach’s head.
JMU Men’s Teams Compete … JMU Women’s Teams Excel !! 🙂 🙂
@Rob: a simple JMU business course would teach you that you don’t look back one or two years when either putting together a business plan or if you are doing an analysis of an investment.
Sports is an investment as well. A short three year trend of the program is 50-43 (54%) and five year is 83-78 (51%). Not horrible, but not sure it’s worth any kind of contract extension.
@Charles My point was that, it’s unusual for a coach to be on the hot seat when the results are trending upward. That’s all. I appreciate the awesome lesson in business though. I’ve learned a lot.