The Arkansas State Red Wolves and James Madison Dukes meet Monday in the college basketball Sun Belt Tournament Championship at the Pensacola Bay Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Arkansas State vs. James Madison Prediction.
Arkansas State Team Preview
The Arkansas State Red Wolves booked their spot in the title game thanks to a 67-65 win over top-seeded Appalachian State last time out. Taryn Todd leads the Red Wolves in scoring with 12.8 PPG along with 3.4 RPG and 2.5 APG while Caleb Fields has 11.8 PPG with a team-high 5.7 APG to lead A-State in assists. Dyondre Dominguez has 11.2 PPG with 6.4 RPG while Derrian Ford has 10.6 PPG with 4.6 RPG and Freddy Hicks has 10.4 PPG with 5 RPG to round out the scoring in double figures for Arkansas State so far this season. Izaiyah Nelson also has 9.1 PPG and a team-high 7 RPG to lead the Red Wolves on the glass up to this point in the year. As a team, Arkansas State is averaging 79.3 PPG on 44.4% shooting from the field, 35.1% from three and 69.9% from the foul line this season.
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James Madison Team Preview
The James Madison Dukes punched their spot in the championship after picking up a 73-68 win over Texas State last time out. Terrence Edwards Jr. leads the Dukes in scoring with 17.6 PPG along with 4.3 RPG and 3.3 APG while T.J. Bickerstaff has 13.9 PPG with a team-high 8.4 RPG to lead the Dukes on the glass this season. Noah Friedel has 11.6 PPG with 5.7 RPG, and Julien Wooden has 10.2 PPG with 3.1 RPG to cap off the scoring in double figures for JMU so far this season. Michael Green III has 7.1 PPG along with 3.5 APG to lead the Dukes in the assist department up to this point in the year. As a team, James Madison is averaging 84.6 PPG on 47.9% shooting from the field, 35.8% from three and 71.1% from the foul line this season.
Arkansas State vs. James Madison Prediction
I’m on JMU here. It’s felt like all along it was James Madison’s time in the Sun Belt, and while Arkansas State has been on quite the run themselves to get to this point, there’s a lot of variance with Arkansas State because they shoot a lot of threes. But the way to negate that variance is to defend the three well, which is something JMU does in spades. The Dukes are far more sound defensively and are much easier to trust. I’ll side with the Dukes to win, cover and go dancing.
