# 2024–25 James Madison Dukes men's basketball team

The 2024–25 James Madison Dukes men's basketball team represented James Madison University in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dukes,led by first-year head coach Preston Spradlin, played their home games at the Atlantic Union Bank Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia as members of the Sun Belt Conference.

## Previous season

The Dukes' 2023–24 season was the most successful year in school history, beginning the season with upsetting then-ranked No. 4 Michigan State, their first win over a ranked team since defeating California in 1992. This season also marked their first appearance as a ranked team in the AP poll in school history. The Dukes finished the 2023–24 season with a record of 28–3, 15–3 in Sun Belt play, to finish in second place. They defeated Marshall, Texas State and Arkansas State in the Sun Belt tournament to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 12 seed in South region, marking the team's first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2013. They upset No. 5-seeded Wisconsin in the first round to advance on to the second round for the first time since 1983. There they lost to Duke in the second round, ending the season with a 32–4 overall record.
On March 25, 2024, head coach Mark Byington left the school to become the head coach at Vanderbilt.

## Preseason
### Preseason Sun Belt Conference poll

The Dukes were picked to finish in second place in the conference's preseason poll. Redshirt senior guard Mark Freeman was named to the preseason All-SBC First Team. Junior guard Xavier Brown was named to the conference preseason third team.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team (1st-place votes) |
| 1 | Arkansas State – 193 (12) |
| 2 | James Madison – 170 (1) |
| 3 | Troy – 155 (1) |
| 4 | Louisiana – 144 |
| 5 | Southern Miss – 133 |
| 6 | App State – 122 |
| 7 | Texas State – 89 |
| T8 | Georgia Southern – 85 |
| T8 | Old Dominion – 85 |
| 10 | Marshall – 79 |
| 11 | South Alabama – 78 |
| 12 | Georgia State – 75 |
| 13 | Coastal Carolina – 34 |
| 14 | ULM – 28 |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 4, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Ohio MAC–SBC Challenge | W 88–78 | 1–0 | 23 – Brown | 8 – Hutchins-Everett | 4 – Freeman | Atlantic Union Bank Center (5,973) Harrisonburg, VA |
| November 9, 2024* 6:00 p.m. | | at Norfolk State | L 69–83 | 1–1 | 21 – Lindsay | 10 – Smith | 4 – Brown | Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall (3,170) Norfolk, VA |
| November 12, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Mary Baldwin | W 100–52 | 2–1 | 21 – Hutchins-Everett | 12 – Hutchins-Everett | 7 – Freeman | Atlantic Union Bank Center (4,516) Harrisonburg, VA |
| November 16, 2024* 8:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at Towson | L 63–67 | 2–2 | 21 – Edwards | 8 – Bickerstaff | 5 – Green III | TU Arena (3,036) Towson, MD |
| November 21, 2024* 11:00 a.m., BallerTV | | vs. UIC Boardwalk Battle quarterfinals | W 99–81 | 3–2 | 28 – Lindsay | 5 – Tied | 7 – Freeman | Ocean Center (386) Daytona Beach, FL |
| November 22, 2024* 3:30 p.m., BallerTV | | vs. UC San Diego Boardwalk Battle semifinals | L 67–73 | 3–3 | 17 – Lindsay | 9 – Smith | 4 – Brown | Ocean Center Daytona Beach, FL |
| November 23, 2024* 3:30 p.m., BallerTV | | vs. Jacksonville State Boardwalk Battle 3rd-place game | W 71–65 | 4–3 | 18 – Brown | 9 – Smith | 4 – Brown | Ocean Center Daytona Beach, FL |
| November 29, 2024* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | George Mason | L 61–66 | 4–4 | 19 – Lindsay | 10 – Smith | 4 – Freeman | Atlantic Union Bank Center (4,611) Harrisonburg, VA |
| December 3, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | East Tennessee State | W 71–61 | 5–4 | 16 – Tied | 6 – Tied | 5 – Brown | Atlantic Union Bank Center (3,364) Harrisonburg, VA |
| December 7, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Utah Valley | W 78–61 | 6–4 | 18 – Lindsay | 7 – Smith | 7 – Brown | Atlantic Union Bank Center (3,726) Harrisonburg, VA |
| December 17, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Wake Forest | L 58–75 | 6–5 | 14 – Freeman | 4 – Tied | 4 – Lindsay | LJVM Coliseum (7,463) Winston-Salem, NC |
| December 21, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at South Alabama | L 49–77 | 6–6 (0–1) | 12 – Lindsay | 6 – Ricks III | 4 – Freeman | Mitchell Center (1,574) Mobile, AL |
| December 29, 2024* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Midway | W 96–64 | 7–6 | 13 – Tied | 8 – Tied | 5 – Brown | Atlantic Union Bank Center (3,396) Harrisonburg, VA |
| January 2, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Southern Miss | W 83–72 | 8–6 (1–1) | 30 – Freeman | 7 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Atlantic Union Bank Center (4,460) Harrisonburg, VA |
| January 4, 2025 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Arkansas State | W 67–62 | 9–6 (2–1) | 18 – Brown | 9 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Atlantic Union Bank Center (5,079) Harrisonburg, VA |
| January 9, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Marshall | L 78–80 | 9–7 (2–2) | 31 – Freeman | 7 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Cam Henderson Center (4,009) Huntington, WV |
| January 11, 2025 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Appalachian State | L 66–86 | 9–8 (2–3) | 19 – Hutchins-Everett | 9 – Hutchins-Everett | 3 – Brown | Holmes Center (2,405) Boone, NC |
| January 16, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Marshall | W 67–64 | 10–8 (3–3) | 13 – Brown | 7 – Tied | 4 – Freeman | Atlantic Union Bank Center (3,335) Harrisonburg, VA |
| January 18, 2025 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Appalachian State | L 50–58 | 10–9 (3–4) | 13 – Lindsay | 10 – Smith | 4 – Freeman | Atlantic Union Bank Center (4,685) Harrisonburg, VA |
| January 22, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Old Dominion Royal Rivalry | W 74–60 | 11–9 (4–4) | 21 – Smith | 7 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Chartway Arena (6,008) Norfolk, VA |
| January 25, 2025 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Georgia State | W 86–79 | 12–9 (5–4) | 19 – Lindsay | 5 – Tied | 4 – Brown | GSU Convocation Center (1,792) Atlanta, GA |
| January 30, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Coastal Carolina | W 73–64 | 13–9 (5–5) | 29 – Freeman | 8 – Smith | 3 – Lindsay | Atlantic Union Bank Center (4,387) Harrisonburg, VA |
| February 1, 2025 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Old Dominion Royal Rivalry | W 68–54 | 14–9 (7–4) | 14 – Lindsay | 9 – Smith | 3 – Tied | Atlantic Union Bank Center (6,192) Harrisonburg, VA |
| February 5, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Troy | W 64–61 | 15–9 (8–4) | 14 – Tied | 6 – Ricks III | 2 – Freeman | Atlantic Union Bank Center (3,754) Harrisonburg, VA |
| February 8, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Toledo MAC–SBC Challenge | L 69–72 | 15–10 | 23 – Freeman | 8 – Smith | 5 – Lindsay | Savage Arena (4,438) Toledo, OH |
| February 13, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Georgia Southern | W 77–72 | 16–10 (9–4) | 26 – Freeman | 7 – Smith | 4 – Lindsay | Hill Convocation Center (1,560) Statesboro, GA |
| February 15, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Coastal Carolina | W 74–73 | 17–10 (10–4) | 23 – Freeman | 12 – Hutchins-Everett | 2 – Brown | HTC Center (1,630) Conway, SC |
| February 20, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Georgia State | W 83–63 | 18–10 (11–4) | 23 – Lindsay | 10 – Smith | 4 – Tied | Atlantic Union Bank Center (4,101) Harrisonburg, VA |
| February 22, 2025 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Georgia Southern | W 78–73 | 19–10 (12–4) | 18 – Lindsay | 9 – Smith | 4 – Brown | Atlantic Union Bank Center (6,428) Harrisonburg, VA |
| February 25, 2025 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Louisiana–Monroe | W 85–79 | 20–10 (13–4) | 27 – Freeman | 8 – Ricks III | 4 – Tied | Fant–Ewing Coliseum (1,483) Monroe, LA |
| February 28, 2025 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Texas State | L 93–102 $^{2OT}$ | 20–11 (13–5) | 22 – Hutchins-Everett | 12 – Hutchins-Everett | 4 – Freeman | Strahan Arena (1,526) San Marcos, TX |
| Sun Belt tournament |||||||||
| March 9, 2025 8:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) | vs. (3) Troy Semifinals | L 60–79 | 20–12 | 34 – Freeman | 9 – Lindsay | 2 – Lindsay | Pensacola Bay Center (3,362) Pensacola, FL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South. All times are in Eastern. |||||||||
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