James Madison senior Pierre Curtis says he didn't come home satisfied from the Dukes' recent trip to Miami.

"We really didn't shoot for 2-2," Curtis said Wednesday following practice at the Conovocation Center. "After the Ohio State game, we really thought we could go down there and win three straight."

Instead, the Dukes shot just 28 percent as a team in last Friday's opener of the 2K Sports Classic, and lost 71-43 to Murray State.

"The Murray State game, we played with really no effort. We watched the film after the game, and it was really embarrassing," Curtis said. "They were beating us up and down the court, and we looked really tired.

"It kind of put us in our place a little bit, and made us realize we had to work really hard to win," he added. "So the last two games we really played hard on defense."

JMU followed that loss with back-to-back wins against Florida International Sunday, then North Carolina Central Monday.

"I think that we did lose to two really outstanding basketball teams in Murray State and Ohio State, clearly two teams that are going to be in the NCAA Tournament in March," head coach Matt Brady said Wednesday. "The most important thing for us, more than anything else, is that we actually got better. Especially from game three to game four."

Brady spent the last few days of practice prior to the Dukes' trip stressing his team's need to raise its effort level on defense.

On Wednesday, Brady said were progressing defensively.

"Sometimes, we've got to scratch it out of these young guys," he said. "They still don't recognize how hard you've got to play for the entire length of the possession, on consecutive possessions, all the way through the course of the game. So it's a learning experience.

"Versus North Carolina Central, when we were up almost 20 at the beginning of the second half, that was a step forward for us defensively. Intensity-wise, energy-wise," Brady added. "So I think we're getting a little better here."

"I think it was just mostly effort," said Curtis. "We really didn't do anything different the next two games (following the Murray State loss). We just played with a lot more effort."

"I think we're getting better," said Brady. "Clearly we got better in our fourth game, and we need to continue to have that kind of mindset if we're going to have a good basketball team."