{"id":5242,"date":"2013-03-22T23:02:44","date_gmt":"2013-03-23T03:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=5242"},"modified":"2013-03-23T09:44:16","modified_gmt":"2013-03-23T13:44:16","slug":"dukes-fall-to-indiana-in-ncaa-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=5242","title":{"rendered":"Dukes Fall to Indiana in NCAA Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>JMU is no longer dancing. The Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Dukes 83-62 today in the NCAA tournament. Indiana came out of the gates red hot and built up a big lead. JMU got it down to 14 late in the first half, but then the Hoosiers rattled off 9 straight and it was never really close after that. The Dukes stood tall and played them pretty even in the second half. Freshmen Andre Nation and Charles Cooke were real bright spots, with each of them scoring career highs. Nation poured in 24 points and Cooke added 18.<\/p>\n

This is probably one of those things lots of people don’t want to hear, but I was just happy to be there. Sorry, but it’s true. It’s been 19 very long years since JMU got to the Big Dance. I’m not happy they lost. I really thought they could win. Losing sucks. But there’s no shame in it. Indiana is a hell of a team. They were just better than JMU today. They’d be better than JMU most days. So what? It doesn’t make me like the Dukes any less. It doesn’t detract from all the fun I had watching this team play this season. And I had a lot of fun watching this team all year.<\/p>\n

Devon Moore, A.J. Davis, Rayshawn Goins, Alione Diouf, and Gene Swindle are all graduating. Andrey Semenov might be. It’s going to be tough to see those guys go. Swindle battled back from what many thought was a career ending injury to play 2 more years. Goins was a scrapper and a banger. Diouf had sneaky explosiveness who fit just about any role the coaches asked him to play. We sometimes wondered if “it” would ever click with A.J., but it finally did and it was amazing. And\u00a0Devon was pretty much everything we could ask for in a guy representing our school. But it’s time to turn the page.<\/p>\n

So now we move on. And we move on with some spectacular pieces in place. Andre Nation, Charles Cooke, Ron Curry, and Taylor Bessick form a pretty solid core. Nation and Cooke did not look phased in the slightest tonight. They went toe to toe with the Hoosiers and didn’t give up an inch. Getting back to the dance was a big step forward, but it’s not the goal. The goal is to get there consistently and to win games. And for the first time in decades, the goal seems achievable. Provided there’s a man to lead them of course. Coach Brady sure seems to be that man. Open up the checkbook and pay the man Bourne. He’s earned it.<\/p>\n

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