Friday, March 7th, 8:30 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Richmond Coliseum (11,200) -- Richmond, Virginia. Television: None. Home Record: JMU 9-5, Northeastern 7-3. Away Record: JMU 3-11, Northeastern 6-13. Neutral Record: JMU 1-0, Northeastern 0-0. Conference Record: JMU 5-13, Northeastern 9-9. Series Record: Northeastern leads, 6-2.

GAME NOTES: The first round of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament concludes with the 11th-seeded James Madison Dukes taking on the sixth-seeded Northeastern Huskies. The team that comes out on top in this one will clash with third-seeded George Mason in the quarterfinals on Saturday. The Dukes struggled for most of the CAA season and they ended up with just a 5-13 league mark. The poor finish landed JMU the 11th seed in this tournament, where it has gone a 21-22 all-time, including two championships. As for Northeastern, it had an up-and-down conference run and at the end of the regular season it sat at an even 9-9 in the league. That mark was good enough to earn the Huskies the sixth seed, and they will now try to improve upon their 3-2 all- time record in this event. Northeastern leads the all-time series with JMU, 6-2, but the Dukes won the only meeting this season, 68-65, back in December.

The Dukes are led by the trio of Abdulai Jalloh, Terrance Carter and Juwann James, each of whom are the main contributors to the team's scoring average of 73.6 ppg. Jalloh leads the way with 15.7 ppg and 49 steals, and he is also collecting 5.6 rpg and shooting 39.7 percent from three-point range. Carter is the squad's top rebounder at 6.7 rpg and he chips in 13.0 ppg. James is also scoring 13.0 ppg for JUM and he is snaring 6.0 rpg and shooting 57.7 percent from the field overall. As a team, the Dukes have been effective on offense, but at the other end of the court they are allowing opposing teams to net 74.0 ppg and shoot an efficient 48.0 percent from the field. The poor defense has clearly been the team's downfall.

The Huskies have done a much better job at the defensive end of the floor than their counterpart tonight, as they are limiting foes to just 64.0 ppg. Offensively, Northeastern has struggled, scoring just 63.4 ppg. Matt Janning is the squad's leading scorer at 16.4 ppg and he is knocking down 37.4 percent of his long-range attempts. Manny Adako is next in line with 10.6 ppg and is corralling 4.6 ppg and shooting 57.0 percent from the field. Nkem Ojougboh has provided the club with a presence in the low post, as he contributes 10.3 ppg and a team-best 6.7 rpg. Chaisson Allen is averaging only 9.1 ppg for the season, but he has made up for that by topping the club in both assists (3.6 apg) and steals (60).

Northeastern is clearly the better defensive club here and that should help it get past the Dukes and into the next round.

Predicted Outcome

Northeastern 69, James Madison 64