Daily dribble

Even without their best player, the best team in Virginia looked every bit the part Sunday afternoon.

James Madison 85, Siena 57: A year ago, the Dukes struggled when star guard Dawn Evans had to sit out. Earlier this week, we learned that Evans would be sidelined again. But this time, the Dukes dug in. Freshman Tarik Hislop picked up much of the slack with 16 points, 10 assists and 0 turnovers. But everyone had a hand in what turned out to be a remarkably clean performance under the circumstances, including Evans, who spent the week tutoring Hislop on the nuances of running the point, JMU style. The result left JMU at 7-0 for the first time since the 1996-97. But will it be enough for the Dukes to crack the AP or ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls? "I don't know if we should be in, I don't know if we will be in," JMU coach Kenny Brooks said. "But do I think we're a Top 25 team? Yes, I think we are." By the way, Brooks has one of the 31 votes in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.