The largest crowd ever to watch a James Madison game in Harrisonburg packed the Atlantic Union Bank Center to watch the Dukes defeat Virginia for the first time ever. Virginia had won the first 11 meetings.
However, the streak was snapped Tuesday as the Dukes edged out the Cavaliers 52-49. Following the final buzzer, a great portion of the 8,439 fans in attendance stormed the court in jubilation.
Virginia was awful offensively. The Cavaliers shot 4-of-26 from three-point range and 19-of-50 overall.
Virginia senior forward Jayden Gardner had a game-high 12 points. Senior guard Kihei Clark added 11 points.
None of James Madison’s players scored in double figures. But, the Dukes made 22-of-47 shots from the field. That offset a dreadful day at the line of 4-of-11 shooting.
Nevertheless, the Dukes improved to 8-2 on the season. Virginia is the only Power 5 school on JMU’s schedule this season.
For Virginia, Tony Bennett’s team fell to 6-4 on the season. The Cavaliers started the season ranked No. 25 in the nation. But, they’ve lost to the likes of Navy, Houston and Iowa.
