{"id":3537,"date":"2012-01-29T08:28:22","date_gmt":"2012-01-29T13:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3537"},"modified":"2012-01-29T12:24:00","modified_gmt":"2012-01-29T17:24:00","slug":"ryan-pearson-and-the-patriots-top-jmu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3537","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Pearson and the Patriots Top JMU"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>JMU fell to George Mason 89-79 at the Patriot Center yesterday. It was the Dukes’\u00a0millionth loss in a row to the Patriots. However, it was one of those games that was closer than the final score indicates. I thought it was over when A.J. Davis went to the bench with his 3rd foul before the 16 minute mark. The Dukes battled tough all day though and only down 4 with under 2 minutes when Ryan Pearson blocked a 3 point attempt by A.J. Davis. From that point on it was basically a free throw shooting contest. Mason knocked them down and went away with the win. Pearson was just too much for the Dukes all game. He poured in 29 and 15. JMU could do nothing to stop him. The guy is just a beast and is probably the best player in the conference. And you know how much I hate Mason, so I really don’t like admitting that.<\/p>\n

Humpty Steps Up<\/strong><\/p>\n

We said that Andrey Semenov had a classic Semenov game in the win over William & Mary. Well, Humpty came to play yesterday and had a vintage Humpty performance. He was bruised, battered, and red hot from long range. Where as Semenov is at his best mixing it up with the other team, Humpty seems to get going when he’s bumped and bruised by the opposition. He had a brutal (yet completely clean) collision with Mike Morrison that sent him to the ground late in the first half. It only seemed to fire him up and focus him. He single-handely kept the Dukes in the game with his long range shooting before the break. With A.J. on the bench in foul trouble, Humpty picked up the slack for JMU. He dropped 27 points and 7 assists in a tireless effort. It was a great performance.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Battle in the Paint<\/strong><\/p>\n

The battle in the paint wasn’t much of a battle at all. It was a bloodbath. Mason absolutely crushed the Dukes down low. I lost track of how many times JMU played solid D for 20-25 seconds, only to have a Mason player deliver the ball to a wide open teammate running the baseline. It was the story of the game. Mason showed tremendous patience and eventually had someone find space or create a match-up problem down low. And when the Patriots missed, they often grabbed the board and nailed the follow-up. They had 21 offensive rebounds. Enoch Hood has shown me enough that I think he could become a good CAA big man. Right now though, he and the Dukes just can’t compete with most CAA teams’ front lines. Gene Swindle is a big body, but his poor footwork and lack of lateral quickness are too much to overcome against guys like Pearson.<\/p>\n

Let’s Go Streaking<\/strong><\/p>\n

The big CAA news of the day was that Towson notched a win over UNCW to snap their 41 game losing streak. That’s great for the Towson program and I’m legitimately excited for them. I’m also happy for the Dukes who now are spared any heartache from being the team to hand Towson their first win. JMU has a few streaks of it’s own to end though. In particular, JMU needs to stop the bleeding against Mason. JMU has lost 8 straight to their rivals. They’ve never beaten them under Matt Brady.<\/del> On the positive side, A.J. Davis has scored in double figures in 10 straight games. He and Brady have struggled to connect at times, but he’s showing that he’s got ability to score against anyone in the league. And while I’m not sure he’ll keep it up for a Towson like 41 games, Semenov could easily rattle off 20 or 30 in a row with a tech. He’s the D.J. Bryant of JMU hoops. An effective player who’s good for handing the opposition a free pass almost every game.<\/p>\n