James Madison vs Hampton 11/9/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Hampton Pirates and the James Madison Dukes meet in college basketball action from the Atlantic Union Bank Center on Wednesday night.

The Hampton Pirates will be out to bounce back this season after a disappointing 2021-22 season, finishing at 9-19 overall, including a 5-11 mark in Big South conference play. The Pirates were the 10-seed in the conference tournament, losing to High Point in the first round and ending their season. The Pirates do lose the services of Najee Garvin (15.2 PPG, 6.5 RPG) but do bring back Russell Dean (14.9 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 3.9 APG) while also bringing in Jordan Nesbitt (8.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG) as a solid transfer from Saint Louis for the upcoming year.

The James Madison Dukes will be out to build on their 123-38 rout of Valley Forge last time out. Noah Friedel led the Dukes with 17 points on 5 of 5 shooting with 4 threes while Takai Molson had 14 points on 4 of 4 shooting with a 5 of 5 mark from the line along with 3 steals. Shane Feden had 12 points on 6 of 8 shooting and Alonzo Sule and Jarrell Robertson each had 10 points to cap off the scoring in double figures for JMU in the win, with Roberson adding a team-high 11 rebounds for the double-double.

Hampton is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 and 3-12 ATS in their last 15 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 5-0 in their last 5 games overall. James Madison is 5-11 ATS in their last 16 games overall and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 home games while the over is 7-3 in their last 10 home games.

I get the case to be made either way here, but I’m leaning towards James Madison here. I know some folks may overreact after JMU put a beating down in their season opener, but this is more of a play against Hampton for me more than anything else, as the Pirates had issues in the non-conference portion of last year’s schedule and really had defensive issues down the stretch last year. James Madison’s the better team with a game to shake off some rust and I think they put out another dominant showing. Give me the Dukes.