Blue Devils ready to take on JMU, haters in NCAA Tournament round 2
Posted March 23, 2024 4:42 p.m. EDT
Updated March 23, 2024 8:28 p.m. EDT
 James Madison Dukes |
55 |
 13Duke Blue Devils |
93 |
| Final | |
NEW YORK — The Dukes – plural – got the New York fans talking Friday after beating Wisconsin 72-61 to make James Madison the first 12-5 upset of this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament. “It's not an upset,” Xavier Brown yelled, popping his jersey in the middle of the celebration with teammates and in front of the fired-up JMU family section at Barclays Center.
The 32-3 Dukes will get another chance to prove that Sunday when they face the Blue Devils of Duke University. The two teams have never met.
"It is a quick turnaround," granted Duke head coach Jon Scheyer. The teams are scheduled for a 5:15 p.m. tipoff on CBS.
The Blue Devils, the 4 seed, are accustomed to the challenges that come with being a national brand and a basketball blueblood.
"I feel like it's everyone versus Duke, especially on the road or neutral sites," said Tyrese Proctor.
Scheyer, who won a national championship as a player, said, "That's part of the beauty of playing in the NCAA Tournament. You get to play in a sold-out crowd where there's a lot of people there that really want you to win, and there's obviously going to be people that don't want you to win. That's how it goes, and I think we are used to that.
"When you're at Duke, whether you're the coach, whether you are a player, you put yourself in a position where you're critiqued. That comes with the territory."
As the underdog, James Madison can use that fan support as fuel. On Friday, chants of “J-M-U” echoed through Barclays Center as if it was the Atlantic Union Bank Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
The Dukes also bring the confidence built on a 14-game winning streak – the longest in the nation. Only defending national champion and top-seeded UConn has won as many games this season as James Madison.
None of that matters when the ball is tipped.
"You know, we lost our first two road games of the season," Scheyer said. "Since then, we've played great away from home, neutral sites. And neutral a lot of times becomes where it can be a little bit of a road game, which has, I think, fueled our group more than anything."
He and his players agreed that the game will come down to defense.
"You advance in this tournament not by your offense but you advance by your defense," Scheyer said.
Of JMU, Proctor said, "They try to speed the game up and muck the game up defensively ... They like to get downhill. I think the more that we can be disciplined and just stay focused on us, and our defense has been good all year."
