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SIU Men's Basketball | Salukis challenge No. 22 James Madison in Cancun Challenge semifinal

M.Wright3 months ago

PUERTO AVENTURAS, Mexico — Xavier Johnson is eager for the challenge of playing No. 22 James Madison.

“I think we’ve put in a lot of work the last five months for the opportunity that we have coming,” he said Thursday night after SIU bounced Chicago State 71-55. “We are looking forward to the matchup.”

In what could be the Salukis’ only chance at a Top 25 win this year, they meet the unbeaten Dukes at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a ballroom inside the Hard Rock Riviera Maya Resort, in the semifinals of the Cancun Challenge.

JMU (4-0) has been one of the early stories in college basketball. Picked anywhere from first to third in the Sun Belt Conference, the Dukes introduced themselves right away with a 79-76 overtime win at then-No. 4 Michigan State, then scored five points in the last three seconds of regulation to tie Kent State and prevail in triple overtime.

JMU rose from 24th to 22nd in Monday’s rankings after holding off Radford 76-73 in front of a raucous home crowd of 8,014, the second-biggest in school history. The Dukes are no fluke.

“They’re old and they have a ton of experience,” said SIU coach Bryan Mullins. “They have four fifth-year guys starting and they are well-coached. They can really score the basketball and they have multiple ways to beat you. You don’t get that ranking without being a very good team.”

How can the Salukis (3-0) earn their first Top 25 nonconference win since Mullins played in 2007? We look at three ways it can happen:

While SIU hasn’t played a tough schedule, one thing it has done against Kentucky State, Queens and Chicago State is end most possessions with a defensive rebound. The Salukis have outboarded those teams by an average of 9.6 per game, grabbing just over 78% of all defensive rebounds.

JMU is being outboarded by 2.5 per game but the Dukes are capable of crashing the offensive glass. They average 11.5 per game with Jaylen Carey responsible for 10 – in just 53 minutes – and 6-foot-9 T.J. Bickerstaff adding nine.

“This will be a huge challenge for us because they have athleticism and length,” Mullins said. “It’s something we’ve been talking about with these guys. If we can do it, it can put us in a position to win games. I think this can be a strength of this year’s team.”

That’s one reason Mullins was so happy with Clarence Rupert’s effort Thursday night. Although he took only three shots from the field and scored just four points, Rupert grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, six off the defensive boards.

Do that every game and this team might just win more games than most people believe they will.

The Dukes score a lot of points, averaging 93.8 ppg and hitting 10.5 3-pointers per game. But Mullins feels a bigger key might be what happens when his team has the ball.

Specifically, taking care of said ball. JMU coach Mark Byington likes to speed up the tempo via pressure defense and it has worked so far. The Dukes are forcing 16 turnovers per game and averaging 10 steals per game.

All those live-ball turnovers often lead to transition buckets the other way. And while SIU doesn’t mind to run, it wants to pick its spots to play with pace. Playing fast when it wants to, not because JMU makes it, will be crucial to success.

“They create turnovers,” Mullins said. “We’ve got to be able to play smart basketball and take care of the ball.”

In the days when he was managing teams like the A’s and Cardinals to 90 and 100-win seasons, Tony La Russa would occasionally tell them before a big series to “show off.” That means, show everyone why you are this good.

In the same vein, here’s a chance for the Salukis to show off for a national TV audience. Most will be tuning in to watch their Top 25 opponent. If SIU can play a good game and win, it might not result in a Top 25 ranking but it will garner them some national attention for a night.

“That’s why they came here,” Mullins said. “This is the type of teams we want to be playing. These are the type of games our program wants to be in.”

James Madison vs. SIU

Tipoff:

Site: Hard Rock Riviera Maya Resort (1,500), Puerto Aventuras, Mexico

TV: CBS Sports Network (Brett Dolan, Chris Walker)

Radio: WCIL-FM 101.5 (Luke Martin, Rodney Watson)

Tickets: cancunchallenge.net, prices range between $40-$200

Records: James Madison 4-0, SIU 3-0

Series Record: SIU leads 3-0, leads 2-0 on neutral courts

Kenpom.com Rankings: James Madison 88, SIU 141

Kenpom.com Prediction: James Madison 78-74

Starting Lineups: James Madison—G Michael Green, 6-0 sr. (12.8 ppg, 4.5 ast, 1.5 stl); G Noah Friedel, 6-4 sr. (8.3 ppg); F Terrence Edwards, 6-6 jr. (21 ppg, 6 reb, 3.3 ast, 1.3 stl); F Julien Wooden, 6-8 sr. (12.8 ppg, 1.3 stl, 1 blk); C T.J. Bickerstaff, 6-9 sr. (16 ppg, 8.5 reb). SIU—G Xavier Johnson, 6-1 gr. (19.7 ppg, 5.7 ast, 1.7 stl); G AJ Ferguson, 6-6 jr. (13 ppg); G Trent Brown, 6-2 gr. (11 ppg, 1.3 stl); F Troy D’Amico, 6-7 jr. (6.7 ppg, 1 stl), F Clarence Rupert, 6-8 jr. (9 ppg, 9.3 reb).

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