James Madison vs South Alabama Prediction Basketball Picks 1-11-24

The South Alabama Jaguars and the James Madison Dukes meet Thursday in college basketball action from Atlantic Bank Union Center. South Alabama is currently 8-7 overall following a loss to Georgia State on Saturday. As for James Madison, they took their first loss of the year to Southern Miss over the weekend, dropping to 14-1 in the Sun Belt standings this year. Let’s get into our South Alabama vs. James Madison prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

South Alabama Jaguars

The Jaguars started out the year pretty shaky at 4-5 with wins over Buffalo, Denver, SIU Edwardsville and Lynn. Wins over Mercer, Spring Hill, Alabama A&M and Old Dominion came in the next four outings, then another pair of losses to Appalachian State and Georgia State.

In the Georgia State matchup on Saturday, the Jaguars faced a two-point deficit going into the second half.South Alabama was outscored 48-36 from there and lost 90-76. Tops in scoring was Tyrell Jones with 22 points, and Thomas Howell posted 17 rebounds with eight points.

James Madison Dukes

Over on the Dukes’ side, they got off to a great 14-0 start this year. Those wins were over Michigan State, Kent State, Howard, Radford, Southern Illinois, Fresno State, Buffalo, Keystone, Old Dominion, Hampton, Coppin State, Morgan State, Texas State and Louisiana in succession.

Over the weekend the Dukes faced Southern Miss and took their first loss of the season. James Madison was in trouble by halftime with a 44-35 deficit and didn’t end up getting closer on a 37-36 run from there in an 81-71 loss. Leading scorer Terrence Edwards put up 15 points, and TJ Bickerstaff doubled on 14 points and 16 boards.

ANDREW’S FREE SOUTH ALABAMA VS JAMES MADISON PREDICTION

I’ll stay with James Madison. It’s tough trusting the Dukes right now after their first loss of the year, but I think they’ll bounce back and play well here. JMU shot pretty badly against Southern Miss (39.4 percent) and hit just 2-of-17 (11.8 percent) from 3-point range. The rebounding (42) was still good though, and the Dukes have scored 68 or more points in every game this year.

As for South Alabama, they’re scoring well also with 76 or more points in five of their last six games. This one may be a high total, so JMU is going to have to get back to their hot-shooting ways in order to cover.