Or whoever wasn’t listening two hours earlier than however is definitely listening now.
The non-upset was the Dukes’ 72-61 first-round win over Wisconsin. They by no means trailed in this system’s first win within the match’s most important draw since 1983. However due to their seeds — No. 5 for the Badgers, No. 12 for JMU — the sport wasn’t imagined to unfold the way it did. The Dukes weren’t imagined to power 19 turnovers. They weren’t supposed to guide by double digits all through. In the long run, they weren’t imagined to have fun, irrespective of how a lot they believed they might.
In the beginning of the evening, of their shoe field of a locker room, Coach Mark Byington wrote two quick phrases on a whiteboard:
“And so we did,” senior guard Noah Freidel mentioned. “For 40 straight minutes.”
The place did the idea come from? For starters, 32 wins (and counting), together with a non-upset of fourth-ranked Michigan State to open the season. Possibly the vibe on campus, too. It’s been fairly the yr for JMU athletics, most notably with its soccer and males’s basketball applications. Of their second yr as a Soccer Bowl Subdivision crew, the Dukes went 11-2, beating Virginia by some extent and Connecticut by 38. Faculty GameDay visited Harrisonburg, Va., of all locations, even because the NCAA barred then-undefeated JMU from main bowl rivalry. Then males’s basketball picked up the torch.
This week, these Dukes heard about being undersized in opposition to Wisconsin and 7-foot middle Steven Crowl. Junior Terrence Edwards Jr., their main scorer, noticed someplace on social media that he couldn’t keep on with Wisconsin guard AJ Storr. Edwards, although, has perception in his blood. His household flew as much as Brooklyn from Georgia and booked their motels by means of the weekend.
JMU performs Duke — sure, the Dukes vs. Duke — at 5:15 p.m. on Sunday. Solely a Candy 16 spot will probably be on the road.
“Our coaches saved staying on us saying: ‘Don’t let off the gasoline,’” mentioned Edwards, who completed with a team-high 14 factors in 33 minutes. “I feel we had been doing that loads in convention play. We type of obtained bored a bit of bit. So coming into this match, we knew we had been going to play groups the place you possibly can’t do this kind of stuff.
“And so, yeah, that’s what y’all seen tonight, simply us placing on a full 40 minutes collectively. And yeah, see y’all Sunday.”
Scouting Wisconsin, Byington and his employees observed how Rutgers and Tennessee hounded the Badgers on the ball. That didn’t result in a ton of turnovers. Nevertheless it confirmed Byington that JMU may possibly achieve an edge by pressuring Wisconsin’s guards. In flip, the Dukes flew round screens, into passing lanes, turning ft into inches, then inches to millimeters. If there was a unfastened ball, purple jerseys outnumbered the white ones, nearly each time.
Proper earlier than the second half began, Brown gripped the sting of his shorts and checked out JMU’s buzzing crowd. He smiled a bit of, mouthing “Let’s go boys” to himself. After which they went. They went and went and went.
“I’m nervous on a regular basis,” mentioned Byington, who seems as completely something however. When Wisconsin made a small run within the second half, he saved slowly pacing the sideline, a folded sheet of paper in his hand. With lower than eight minutes left, Wisconsin guard Max Klesmit squeezed by means of the protection — discovering a uncommon pocket of area — for an uncontested layup. The ball sat on the rim for a second, holding the entire constructing in place. If it rolled left, the Badgers would have trailed by solely 4. Nevertheless it rolled proper, after which Freidel hit a 3 in transition on the opposite finish.
The constructing unclenched and erupted. Byington didn’t appear to even blink.
“So, sure, I used to be nervous earlier than shoot-around, earlier than the sport and on a regular basis,” the 47-year-old, who took over at JMU in 2020, continued. “I feel it’s pure. However I feel our guys, in the event that they had been a bit of bit nervous, they turned it into them being prepared and being excited to play. There was nothing that we did on the market that the blokes had been hesitant on. And that’s what we saved emphasizing: ‘Look, if anyone goes to get us, it’s not as a result of we’re getting in and be scared or hesitant.’”
Sport over, bus working, the noise picked up in JMU’s locker room. A supervisor FaceTimed with buddies again in Harrisonburg. Brown, sitting in a nook, instructed reporters how the Badgers appeared too relaxed on Choice Sunday when studying they might face the Dukes. Earlier than leaving, Freidel wished to know when their subsequent sport would tip, then was shocked that there have been nonetheless groups taking part in on the West Coast.
“Bro, it’s actually 12:30?” Brown requested Freidel. “It looks like 9:30.”
You needed to forgive them. It’s onerous to maintain time on high of the world.
