Madison falls victim to Shuler show
VCU swingman shows JMU the doorPosted on February 14, 2008
VCU senior guard Jamal Shuler felt disrespected when Kyle Swanston backed up to the three-point line to defend Shuler with 9:04 left in the first half, and the senior used the daylight to nail a 25-foot 3-pointer and extend VCU’s lead to 23-11.
Shuler put on a show against James Madison on Wednesday, as he scored a game-high 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting and led the Rams to a 75-56 win, avenging their 61-62 loss earlier this season at the Convocation Center.
“Jamal’s got the ability to make tough shots,” VCU coach Anthony Grant said. “He’s got a gift. Some guys take tough shots, and some guys make tough shots.”
Shuler nearly delivered the Rams a win at JMU on Jan. 2 when he made a running jumper with 10 seconds left for a 61-60 advantage, but Wednesday he left nothing to chance as he scored a game-high 22 points and made 4-of-5 three-point attempts. Madison (11-13 overall, 4-10 in the CAA) lost for the eighth time in nine games as VCU improved to 11-0 at home.
JMU sophomore point guard Pierre Curtis, who has a sprain and a bone bruise in his left knee, was warming up at the Siegel Center before the game, but his injury bothered him enough that he sat out his third straight contest. Curtis’ absence contributed to a stagnant half-court offense, as JMU freshman guard Ben Louis and junior guard Abdulai Jalloh repeatedly beat VCU’s press only to have Madison force up shots with the shot clock winding down.
“Being on the road without our starting point guard, we knew we would have to do an awful lot right,” JMU coach Dean Keener said. “Unfortunately we didn’t there in the first half where we had some critical turnovers, as well as allowing four offensive rebounds that really got them going.”
The Rams (19-5, 12-2) had little trouble running their offense as junior point guard Eric Maynor scored 16 points and had a game-high five assists. Maynor used a gliding crossover and driving floater to dissect Madison’s defense and jump out to a 38-21 halftime lead.
“Coach always tells us if we have a good shot then try to get the teammate a great shot, and I think we did a good job of that tonight,” Maynor said.
While VCU moved the ball well, Shuler’s sharp shooting may have been the key to the Rams’ success.
JMU senior forward Terrance Carter and junior forward Juwann James led the Dukes with 13 points each, and Carter had a game-high nine rebounds in the physical match. VCU ran a 1-2-2 three-quarter-court press for much of the first half as the Rams hounded JMU ball handlers, but Madison had most of its trouble in the half court.
“Ben [Louis] and Abdulai [Jalloh] really had some key turnovers in the first half that were live-balls and led to some run-outs and transition baskets for them, and then that allowed them again to set their defense,” Keener said.
JMU will regroup and prepare for a home game Saturday against Hofstra, one of four conference games left for the Dukes. Keener said Curtis might be back for that game, but indicated that the situation is day-to-day.
