NORFOLK, Va. – B.J. Stith led four Monarchs in double-figures with 17, as the Old Dominion men’s basketball team (17-10, 10-5 C-USA) pummeled Marshall (15-13, 8-7 C-USA) by an 86-65 score on Thursday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. ODU has now won three in a row by 20-plus points. Old Dominion’s defense held the Thundering Herd 21-points shy of their average (86.2). ODU’s bench out-scored Marshall’s, 37-7, for the contest. The Monarchs never trailed in a game they led for 39:44 of the possible 40 minutes, as the game was tied for the opening 16 seconds.
“This was a good win for us,” said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. “I thought our energy was good and our defense was solid all the way through. We are thrilled to win, but we can’t look too much into this. We still have plenty of room to improve; there is a high ceiling for this group. Now, we have a big challenge coming up on Saturday night.”
Ahmad Caver went for 16 points, eight assists, three steals and two rebounds. Zoran Talley tallied 15 points, two rebounds and two steals. Also in double-figures for ODU was Trey Porter, who scored 10 points and hauled down eight rebounds.
Old Dominion has won the past three games by an average of 22 points. The Monarchs held advantages for points off turnovers (25-5) and steals (11-4).
The Monarchs forced a Herd timeout at the 17:55 mark after stretching the lead to 15, 45-30. ODU held Marshall without a field-goal for over four minutes, while ballooning the lead to 18, 64-46, with 7:34 to play, before ultimately claiming a 21-point victory on Thursday night in Norfolk.
With 9:25 left in the first half, Marshall head coach Dan D’Antoni was ejected after picking up his second technical foul.
In a first half that the Monarchs led by as many as 11, Old Dominion claimed a nine point lead at halftime, behind 10 points, three assists and two rebounds from Ahmad Caver. ODU shot 50% from three in the opening 20 minutes of play.
The Thundering Herd was led by Austin Loop’s 18 points.
NEXT UP FOR THE MONARCHS
Old Dominion will remain at home and return to action on Saturday, Feb. 25, when the Monarchs host Western Kentucky at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN3. Saturday night’s game will also mark Senior Night for ODU’s Jordan Baker and Denzell Taylor. Old Dominion Athletics asks fans to be in their seats by 6:45 p.m. on Saturday night to honor its two seniors, Jordan Baker and Denzell Taylor prior to tipoff.
WKU
The Hilltoppers enter Saturday’s contest with a 7-8 record in Conference USA play. WKU is paced by their three senior leaders in scoring, Justin Johnson (14.2 ppg), Que Johnson (14.1 ppg) and Pancake Thomas (13.2).
View Conference USA Standings Here
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. WKU
-Saturday night marks the 34th all-time meeting between these two schools.
-ODU leads the series, 17-16.
-ODU has won the last five meetings, as the Monarchs last victory was earlier this season (1/07/17) in Bowling Green, 79-67.
-These schools first met in 1970-71 season at WKU, in a game the Hilltoppers won, 96-82.
SINGLE-GAME TICKETS
Single-game tickets for Old Dominion University men’s basketball are still on sale at www.ynottix.com or by calling 757-683-4444.
For group pricing (10+), please call Todd McKeating at 757-683-7087.
All ODU students get in free all year long.
VOUCHER BOOKS
The voucher book includes 10 ticket vouchers that can be redeemed for tickets to any remaining home men’s basketball games. The tickets can be used all at once to bring a family or group of friends or spread out amongst multiple games. If you run out of vouchers, simply come back and purchase another voucher book. At just $99 per voucher book, it represents more than $70, or 40%, savings over face value.
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For a more in-depth look into the men’s basketball program, be sure to follow @ODUMBB on Twitter, ‘ODU Basketball’ on Facebook and odu_mbb on Instagram.