James Madison vs. Arkansas State: Sun Belt Championship Preview
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - James Madison was one of the stories
00:07 of the early going of this college basketball season.
00:10 Opening night of the year in East Lansing
00:12 against Michigan State,
00:14 who was ranked fourth in the preseason AP top 25.
00:17 The Dukes upset the Spartans outright
00:21 inside the Breslin Center.
00:23 And despite all of that,
00:24 in two quad one games,
00:26 the JMU won one of those two.
00:30 The metrics are not all that favorable
00:31 for James Madison for an at large opportunity,
00:35 looking for the auto bid tonight
00:37 with a victory in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game
00:40 against Arkansas State.
00:42 Laying four and a half.
00:44 That is what JMU is doing against Arkansas State.
00:47 DRS for the belt tonight in the Sun Belt,
00:51 who goes home a champion.
00:53 - We're expecting points tonight.
00:54 Should be a great game.
00:55 You take a look at JMU on defense
00:56 in the conference number two overall in efficiency.
00:59 You take a look at their offense
01:00 number two overall in efficiency.
01:01 This is a well-rounded team,
01:02 but here's what makes it interesting here.
01:04 Arkansas State comes into the game.
01:05 There are 14 teams in the Sun Belt.
01:07 They're 12th in efficiency on defense.
01:09 So right away, that doesn't stack up all that well.
01:11 The one interesting caveat here
01:13 to Arkansas State's defense is
01:15 they're worst in conference play
01:17 at defending the three point line,
01:18 giving up 37% from three point range.
01:21 But they're number one in conference play
01:23 at chasing you off of the three point line.
01:25 So if we're talking about Arkansas State here,
01:27 one in the hang around of possibly punching their ticket
01:29 into March Madness with that automatic bid,
01:31 they're number one in conference play
01:32 at offensive efficiency,
01:33 which means they love the three point shot.
01:36 I just told you, Ben, 14 teams in conference play.
01:38 10th in conference play at chasing you off of the line
01:41 is JMU.
01:42 Number one in conference play at volume
01:44 from the three point line is Arkansas State.
01:46 You know I love to fall in love with stuff like that,
01:48 even though you have a great basketball team with JMU.
01:51 They should win in advance, but I gotta tell you,
01:53 on a neutral kite, neutral straight here,
01:55 I'm going to take this.
01:56 I'll take the six points because the three point shot
01:59 is the ultimate equalizer.
02:01 One team shoots it, shoots it well,
02:02 the other team will let you shoot it.
02:04 I'm gonna live and die with Arkansas State
02:05 from the three point line.
02:06 (upbeat music)
02:09 (upbeat music)