WHO: Old Dominion (16-12, 9-6 C-USA) at North Texas (11-17, 6-9 C-USA)
WHEN: Thursday, March 3 at 8:00 p.m. EST
WHERE: The Super Pit – Denton, Texas
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LIVE STREAM: Conference USA Digital Network
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The game will air across the Commonwealth on ESPN Radio 94.1 in Hampton Roads, Sports FM 100.5 in Central Virginia and WLVA 94.1 and FOX Sports 580 in Lynchburg.
(Ted Alexander and Dave Twardzik’s live pregame show begins at 7:30 p.m. EST)
DENTON, Texas – Old Dominion (16-12, 9-6 C-USA) travels to North Texas (11-17, 6-9 C-USA) Thursday, March 3 for an 8:00 p.m. EST tipoff at the Super Pit. Thursday night’s meeting will be the second of the season between the ODU and NT, as Old Dominion handled the Mean Green, 67-47, on Feb. 11 at the Ted. The Monarchs have seven of their nine contests.
Old Dominion currently sits alone in fifth place in the C-USA standings with a 10-6 mark, as LA Tech, Middle Tennessee and Marshall are all tied for second place with an 11-5 record. The Monarchs own the tie-breaker against LA Tech. At the completion of the regular season, the top four seeds receive a first round bye in the 2016 Conference USA Tournament.
In the first meeting, North Texas was held to its lowest scoring output of the season, as the 47 points were over 29 points below the Mean Green's season average of 76.3.
After trailing by three at halftime, Old Dominion dominated the second half, outscoring the Mean Green, 46-23. The Monarchs also held a commanding 27-12 advantage in rebounds in the second half.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES – NORTH TEXAS vs. OLD DOMINION
Old Dominion leads the all-time series against North Texas, 4-0. The Monarchs took down the Mean Green in both games last season. NT is 0-3 when playing at the Ted. ODU has won all four games in this series by at least 10 points (10, 11, 13 and 20).
LAST TIME OUT FOR OLD DOMINION
ODU cruised to a 78-56 victory over UTSA in front of a lively crowd of 8,372 on Saturday evening at Ted Constant Center. Saturday's night contest served as Senior Day, as Martin Shaw, Nik Biberaj, Aaron Bacote and Trey Freeman were all honored in a pre-game ceremony.
Brandan Stith paced ODU with a career-high 21 points, while also adding 14 rebounds and a career-high seven blocks. The double-double was Stith's second consecutive double-double and his fifth in the past seven games.
Freeman also dumped in 21 points with five rebounds and six assists. Zoran Talley was the other Monarch in double figures with 10 points and five boards.
Overall, Old Dominion shot 50 percent from the field, while holding UTSA to 36.4 shooting. The Monarchs also ended the game with a 45-30 edge in rebounding and a 19-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
Senior guard Bacote finished with six points and five rebounds for the Monarchs, while Shaw and Biberaj each made their first career starts. Shaw nailed a mid-range jumper in the final minute to the delight of the Monarch crowd for his only points of the game and Biberaj added two points, two rebounds and one assist.
For the ballgame, the Monarchs held advantages for points in the paint (36-23), points of turnovers (19-6), second chance points (13-3) and bench points (26-6).
INSIDE THE NUMBERS FOR OLD DOMINION
For the season, Trey Freeman is leading the way for the Monarchs averaging 21.1 ppg and 3.8 rpg. Aaron Bacote is averaging 12.5 points a contest, while Brandan Stith is netting 11 ppg to compliment 9.7 boards per contest. Zoran Talley is averaging 8.6 points and 4.9 rebounds, while Nik Biberaj is chipping in 4.9 points per outing to go along with 3.6 boards.
Old Dominion is averaging 67.8 points a game, while holding opponents to 62.0 points on 40.0% shooting from the floor and 31.0% from long-range. The Monarchs turn the ball over just 9.2 times per game.
MEET NORTH TEXAS
The Mean Green enters Thursday’s contest with an 11-17 overall record and a 6-9 mark in Conference USA play. North Texas is just 1-11 on the road this season but is 10-6 when playing at the Super Pit. NT has won two of its last three contests.
Jeremy Combs paces three Mean Green players averaging double figures with 15.7 points per game to go along with a team-high 11.0 rebounds per game. J-Mychal Reese follows, pouring in 14.9 points per contest, while Deckie Johnson averages 14.4 per game.
LOOKING AHEAD FOR THE MONARCHS
Old Dominion will remain on the road for a Saturday showdown at Rice at 2:00 p.m. EST. Saturday’s contest will air live on ASN.
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