And now we are down to two teams: #1 Northeastern vs #3 James Madison with a trip to the NCAA tournament on the line. The Dukes lost their only meeting to the Huskies this season 66-64 in Boston. The biggest factor for me tonight will be if JMU's legs can hold up. They have will play three games in three consecutive days, something they have not done since early November. The team went 1-2 during those three losing to Duquesne (in OT) and North Dakota State while beating Youngstown State (Dukes got their only lead of the game in the final minute).
Norhteastern looked very cold early yesterday in their semi-final matchup with George Mason. The Huskies didn't score their first bucket of the game til the 10:25 mark in the first half. They found themselves down 24 at one point, but put together a historic comeback to send GMU back to Fairfax.
The bye hurt them at first, but I expect it to play into their favor tonight. JMU will have to squeeze every bit of energy they can tonight. This game will be close. All five tournament games thus far have been decided by six points or less and I don't think tonight will be any different.
JMU fans are pouring in to support this team. They vastly outnumber NU fans and the home game atmosphere could play into the Dukes favor tonight.
Keys:
Defense & heart: only two keys tonight. The Dukes will need to play their best defensive game of the season to compete with the Huskies who lead the CAA in scoring. Brady said last night that "we're gonna have to rely on our defense tomorrow night." They cannot let the trio of Quincy Ford, Joel Smith, and Jonathan Lee get out of control. Secondly, heart. Does JMU want this game more than NU? Do they want to go dancing for the first time since 1994? We'll see...
Prediction:
FINAL: #3 James Madison 67 vs #1 Northeastern 65
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