NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion men’s basketball team (6-3) will look to extend its winning streak to five on Sunday, Dec. 9, when the Monarchs host Fairfield (2-7) at the Ted Constant Convocation Center for a 1:00 p.m. ET tipoff. Sunday’s game will stream on C-USA TV and air on the ODU Sports Radio Network, with Ted Alexander and Dave Twardzik’s pregame show beginning at 12:30 p.m.
ALL-TIME SERIES
-Sunday afternoon marks the fourth all-time meeting between these two schools.
-Fairfield leads the all-time series, 2-1.
-Last season at Fairfield, ODU pulled out an 82-77 OT win, behind a career-high 30 points from Caver.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Old Dominion’s defense ranks 4th in the country for scoring defense, allowing just 55.2 points per game. The Monarchs also rank 5th in the nation for holding teams to 35.7% shooting from the floor for the season. ODU turns the ball over just 10.9 times per contest, which ranks 19th in the NCAA.
The Monarchs have been led by their two senior captains so far this season, as Ahmad Caver is averaging 19.2 points, 4.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. B.J. Stith is going for 16.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per outing.
ODU IS...
-5-0 at home this season and 2-0 in December.
-6-1 when allowing less than 60 points.
-5-1 when leading at half.
-4-0 when shooting 40% or better from the floor.
-6-2 when outrebounding its opponent (has outrebounded opponent in all but one game).
LAST GAME
ODU (6-3) won its fourth straight game after downing William & Mary (2-7) by a 71-53 score on Wednesday night at the Ted. In a game that the Tribe never led, ODU led by as many as 22 with 3:01 remaining in regulation.
W&M cut its halftime 10-point halftime deficit down to three, 37-34, after starting the second half on an 11-3 run in the opening 3:40, but would get no closer as the Monarchs closed the contest on a 34-19 run to claim an 18-point victory on Wednesday night in Norfolk.
Stith (7-13 FG, 3-5 3PT, 3-4 FT) finished the contest with 20 points, 11 rebounds and two assists. Caver also poured in a game-high 20 points, to go along with five assists, four rebounds and three steals. Marquis Godwin scored a career-high 14 points, while Jason Wade chipped in three points, eight rebounds and five assists.
For the game, Old Dominion shot a season high 50.0% (27-54) from the floor and 43.5% (10-23) from three-point range. The Monarchs connected on 77.8% (7-9) from the free-throw line. ODU held William & Mary to 35.0% (21-60) shooting from the field and 19.2% (5-26) from deep. The Tribe shot 46.2% (6-13) from the charity stripe for the contest.
FAIRFIELD
The Stags enter Sunday’s contest with a 2-7 record and on a two-game skid; however, eight of their nine games have been decided by six points or less.
Fairfield has been led by Neftali Alvarez (15.4 ppg), Landon Taliaferro (13.9 ppg) and Jonathan Kasibabu (10.2 ppg) so far this season.
Head coach Sydney Johnson is in the midst of his eighth season at the helm for the Stags.