Louisiana-Lafayette vs James Madison Prediction Basketball Picks 1-4-24
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (7-6) vs James Madison Dukes (12-0)
2024-01-04 20:00:00 EDT
The Line: Betting Odds: Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns +5.5 -- Over/Under: 156
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The James Madison Dukes and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns meet in college basketball action from the Cajundome on Thursday night. Can JMU remain undefeated? Or will Louisiana hand the Dukes their first L of the season? Let’s dive in and find out with our James Madison vs. Louisiana Prediction.
James Madison Team Preview
The James Madison Dukes come into this one looking to remain undefeated after improving to 13-0 with an 82-65 win over Texas State last time out. Terrence Edwards Jr. leads the Dukes in scoring with 17.2 PPG along with 5.2 RPG and 3 APG while T.J. Bickerstaff has 16.2 PPG with a team-high 8.3 RPG to lead the Dukes on the glass this season. Noah Friedel has 10.9 PPG with 4.6 RPG and Michael Green III has 11.2 PPG while adding a team-high 4.8 APG to lead the Dukes in assists, also rounding out the group of double-digit scorers for JMU so far this season. As a team, James Madison is averaging 91.8 PPG on 49.9% shooting from the field, 36.8% from three and 69.5% from the foul line this season. James Madison will take on Southern Miss and South Alabama after this game.
Louisiana Team Preview
The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns come into this one looking to rebound from a 75-61 loss to Marshall last time out. Kobe Julien leads the Cajuns in scoring with 18.6 PPG along with 4.4 RPG and 1.8 APG while Joe Charles has 11.2 PPG with a team-high 9.2 RPG to lead the Cajuns on the glass this season. Themus Fulks has 11.3 PPG with 2.6 RPG and a team-high 4.5 APG to lead the Cajuns in assists and to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Louisiana up to this point in the year. As a team, Louisiana is averaging 77.1 PPG on 46.1% shooting from the field, 37.8% from three and 72% from the foul line this season. Louisiana is 7-6 in the Sun Belt standings.
James Madison vs. Louisiana Prediction
I’m on James Madison here. I know crazy things can get in Sun Belt conference play, but the Dukes were one of the most consistent teams in that conference in 2022 and they’ve been pretty much the same across the board up to this point in the year. Sometimes it’s just as simple as taking the better team and I’ll do just that here. Give me JMU.
