NORFOLK, Va. – B.J. Stith broke a Division I school record for most points in a first half (28), helping lead the Old Dominion men’s basketball team (20-5, 11-2 C-USA) over UTSA (14-12, 7-6 C-USA) by a 100-62 score on Thursday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. B.J. Stith's 28 first-half points broke the mark of 27 set by Ronnie Valentine in 1977. Old Dominion scored 100 points in a regulation game for the first time since the 1998-99 season. ODU has now won eight of its last nine and 15 of its last 17 games.
The Monarchs are off to their best start since the 2004-05 season.
“I can’t say I necessarily expected that, but we will take it,” ODU head coach Jeff Jones said. “UTSA had been playing extremely well entering this game. B.J. was phenomenal from the opening tip, but so was the rest of our team. Our guys were definitely ready for this opportunity tonight.”
B.J Stith finished with a double-double, going for 36 points (11-17 FG, 4-8 3PT and 10-10 FT), 10 rebounds and two assists. Xavier Green scored a career-high 17 points to compliment seven boards and two assists. Randy Haynes scored 16 points in 14 minutes of action. Ahmad Caver scored 15 points, dished out 10 assists (0 turnovers) and had two steals.
For the contest, ODU shot 52.4% (33-63) from the floor, 57.7% (15-26) from three and 79.2% (19-24) from the free-throw line. The Monarchs held advantages for points off turnovers (25-1), rebounds (42-32), turnovers (7-17) and steals (9-3). Old Dominion never trailed on Thursday night.
In the first half, B.J. Stith shot 8-11 from the floor, 4-6 from deep and 8-8 from the charity stripe en route to breaking a school record, which had been in place for 41 years. At the half, Old Dominion led UTSA by 16, 52-36.
“Now, after being on this emotional high, we have to come back to earth, regroup and get ready for UTEP on Saturday night,” Jones concluded.
Old Dominion will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 17, when the Monarchs host UTEP at 7:00 p.m. Saturday night’s game will air on ESPN3.