Bickerstaff scores 18 as No. 20 James Madison stays unbeaten, topping Coppin State, 87-48
HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) — TJ Bickerstaff scored 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds to lead No. 20 James Madison to an 87-48 victory over Coppin State on Tuesday night.
Terrence Edwards Jr. added 16 points for the Dukes (11-0) and Julien Wooden finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four steals.
“When you win a game by that much regardless of the opponent, you obviously did good things,” JMU coach Mark Byington said. “I thought our defense led to our offense tonight. I thought we did a good job turning them over. That led to a lot of points. We stole it from them and got some accelerated breaks, just with our defense.”
The Dukes scored 34 points off 30 Coppin State turnovers. JMU also put up 50 points in the paint.
Justin Winston had 13 points and eight rebounds to lead Coppin State (1-12).
Ten different Dukes scored, with four in double figures, including Noah Freidel with 10.
Both teams started fast and the game was tied 14-all just six minutes in before JMU, favored by more than 26 points, went on a 20-5 run to pull away.
“Getting off to a good start right away, with our team, is the best thing,” Bickerstaff said. “Because we can maintain it. Coming out with energy, that’s what we have to do every single game, just like we did tonight.”
Edwards scored James Madison’s final nine points of the half to send the Dukes to the locker room leading 49-26.
“We’re really good in transition, but it only comes from playing good defense,” Bickerstaff said. “Today we were just really aggressive on the ball with our guards and when they tried to throw it in the post we stole the ball as well. So we just played really good defense.”
JMU guard Michael Green III finished with six steals and Xavier Brown had four steals off the bench.
The Eagles had no answer for Bickerstaff in the paint and after a dunk by the Boston College transfer, James Madison had a 32-point lead less than five minutes into the second half.
THE BIG PICTURE
James Madison improved to 11-0 for the first time in program history and remains one of just four unbeaten teams in the country. Coppin State fell to 1-12 in the first season under coach Larry Stewart, who as a player led the Eagles to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1990.
The Dukes have the nation’s second-longest winning streak at 11 games while Coppin State lost its 10th straight on the road.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
James Madison remained ranked No. 20 for the second straight week, beating Hampton last weekend. Beating Coppin State, No. 360 in the NET rankings, at home isn’t likely to vault the Dukes up the poll unless some other ranked teams fall.
UP NEXT
Coppin State: Plays at Maryland on Dec. 28.
James Madison: Takes on another MEAC opponent, traveling to Morgan State on Friday.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
