Old Dominion (14-6, 10-4) at Western Kentucky (17-5, 10-2)
Game Info – Friday, March 5 at 8 p.m. EST and Saturday, March 6 at 5 p.m. EST
Location – E.A. Diddle Arena (Bowling Green, Ky.)
Stream – CBSSN on Facebook
Stream for Friday – Click Here
Stream for Saturday – Click Here
Radio – Click Here
Live Stats – Click Here
NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men's basketball team (14-6, 10-4 C-USA) will travel to Bowling Green, Ky. for a pair of games against Western Kentucky (17-5, 10-2 C-USA) on Friday, March 5 at 8 p.m. EST and Saturday, March 6 at 5 p.m. EST. Both games will be streamed on CBSSN on Facebook (please use above links for direct URL's to each game).
The Hilltoppers currently sit in first place in the Conference USA East division, while ODU sits alone in second place. Conference USA will name an East and a West division champion at the completion of the regular season, which concludes this weekend. The top two teams from each division receive byes in the 2021 C-USA Tournament held in Frisco, Texas on March 9-14. To view the bracket template for the 2021 Conference USA Tournament, please CLICK HERE. The league will announce the official tournament bracket on the night of Saturday, March 6.
To view the C-USA standings, please CLICK HERE.
"I told the guys, an old guy like me, what I wouldn't do to be in their shoes playing in relevant basketball games at this point in the season," ODU head coach Jeff Jones said. "We're playing the No. 1 team in the conference. That should be the definition of fun. This is the kind of thing you dream of and look forward to."
Tournament Seeding Scenarios for Old Dominion:
*If ODU beats WKU twice this weekend, the Monarchs will be crowned East division champs and will receive the No. 1 seed from the East division. ODU would receive a bye and play its first C-USA Tournament game on Thursday, March 11.
*If ODU beats WKU once OR Marshall loses to Charlotte once, the Monarchs get the No. 2 seed from the East. Old Dominion would receive a bye and play its first game of the C-USA Tournament on Thursday, March 11.
*If Marshall were to beat Charlotte twice and ODU were to lose twice to WKU, Marshall (7-5 C-USA) would get the 2 seed from the East division and the Monarchs (10-4 C-USA) would get the 3 seed based off win percentage:
9-5 (.643)
10-6 (.625)
In this scenario, ODU would play on Wednesday, March 10 of the C-USA Tournament.
Radio:
Both games this weekend will air across the ODU Sports Radio Network, with Ted Alexander and Dave Twardzik's live pregame show beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The ODU Sports Radio Network is pleased to announce the addition of WMLB-Freedom AM 1690 as a radio affiliate. WMLB-Freedom AM 1690, broadcasted in Atlanta, Ga., joins ESPN Radio 94.1 FM (in Hampton Roads, Va.) and WJFN 100.5 FM (Richmond/Central, Va.) as part of the ODU Sports Radio Network.
All-Time Series:
Friday night will mark the 42nd all-time meeting between these two programs, as WKU leads the series, 21-20. Old Dominion has won three of the last four contests against the Hilltoppers. These two schools last met last season in a game Western Kentucky won 71-69 in Bowling Green. The Monarchs are 2-1 when playing WKU in the C-USA Tournament. ODU and WKU first met during the 1970-71 season.
Monarchs:
Old Dominion's coaching staff will be wearing puzzle piece pins in support of Coaches Powering Forward for Autism in hopes of creating a kinder, more inclusive world for people with autism. To learn more, please visit autismspeaks.org/coaches.
ODU has won three games in a row, as well as: five of its last six, seven of its last nine, 10 of its last 13 and 12 of its last 16 contests. Old Dominion finished the 2020-21 season with a 9-1 record when playing at home. Since 2014-15, the Monarchs are 86-17 (83.5%) when playing at Chartway Arena.
Old Dominion is 7-0 in games decided by six points or less this season. Last season, ODU went 2-8 in games decided by four points or less.
Seven Monarchs are currently averaging over 6.0 points per outing: Malik Curry (14.6 ppg), Kalu Ezikpe (10.8 ppg) A.J. Oliver II (10.3 ppg), Austin Trice (9.4 ppg), Joe Reece (8.3 ppg), Xavier Green (7.0 ppg) and Jaylin Hunter (6.6 ppg).
Hilltoppers:
WKU enters Friday's contest with a 17-5 overall record and 10-2 mark in league play. Western Kentucky received votes in last week's AP Top 25 poll. The Hilltoppers are currently riding a two game win streak and have won eight of their last 10 games. Western Kentucky boasts a 10-1 record when playing at E.A. Diddle Arena. The Hilltoppers come into this weekend's matchup with quality wins against Memphis and at Alabama.
So far this season, WKU has been led by Charles Bassey (17.8 ppg, 11.8 rpg), Taveion Hollingsworth (14.2 ppg) and Josh Anderson (10.0 ppg).
Bassey has been named to the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List for National Player of the Year. He's also on the Naismith Trophy and Lute Olson National POY watch lists, a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist and a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year top-five finalist. Bassey is tied for second in the nation in dunks (58), as well as third in blocks per game (3.1), rebounds per game (11.8) and double-doubles (14).
East Division Title on the Line as ODU Battles WKU - Watch on CBSSN on Facebook
