A Beatdown of Gardner-Webb is Still a Beatdown

OK, so Gardner-Webb isn’t exactly a house-hold name in college hoops. The Runnin’ Bulldogs have only been a D-1 hoops program

Denzel Bowles

since 2000-2001. They entered Thursday’s game with a 5 game losing streak. I get it. I also don’t care. A 78-57 JMU win to end a 2 game losing skid is cool by me. Even if it is against a team coming off a 45 point loss to Duke.

The Dukes found a rather effective way to address their poor outside shooting. They just decided to score 56 points in the paint. The Dukes pounded the ball inside all night, which was good because they were still just 2-12 from behind the arc. In his second game for JMU, Denzel Bowles poured in 37 points and grabbed 15 boards. If we’re keeping track, Jon Scheyer only scored 36 points against Gardner-Webb, so I guess that settles the ol’ Bowles vs Scheyer debate. Darren White was the only other Duke in double-figures, and he finished with 22 points. It was the JMU freshman’s third 20 point outing of the season.

It’s tough to get too excited about a victory over a team most of us had never heard of, particularly when JMU continued to struggle so badly from 3-point range. Still, it’s nice to see Bowles and the Dukes take care of business and really dominate a team down low. There’s no way around the fact that this team needs to improve its outside shooting, but let’s see if the boys can carry the momentum forward and knock off Radford at home this Saturday night.