NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men's basketball team will start its first Sun Belt Conference season in 31 years this week with a pair of games at Chartway Arena.
On Thursday night, the Monarchs will host Arkansas State (8-5) at 7 p.m. ODU (8-4) will close out the calendar year 2022 on Saturday afternoon hosting Louisiana (10-2) at 2 p.m.
STREAM/AUDIO
Both games will be streamed on ESPN+ with Scott Jackson and Billy Mann on the call.
ESPN Radio 94.1FM will have the radio broadcast both days with Ted Alexander and Dave Twardzik on the call starting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday night and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday with the Toyota Pregame Show.
LAST TIME OUT
Chaunce Jenkins hit a driving layup with 2.3 seconds left as Old Dominion defeated George Mason 78-77 on December 21. The Monarchs trailed 19-7 at the 12-minute mark of the first half and took a 30-29 lead on a Tyreek Scott-Grayson jumper with 1:54 left in the half.
Scott-Grayson matched his career high with 30 points and in the process hit the 1,000-career point mark. He was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday. Jenkins added 17 points, while Mekhi Long had 11 and Imo Essien chipped in 10.
Terrance Ford came off the bench to score a career-high 25 points and Omar El-Sheikh posted a double-double to help lead Arkansas State to a 77-75 win over Little Rock on December 22.
Louisiana, who will face Coastal Carolina on Thursday night before coming to Norfolk, dropped a 100-72 decision at #7 Texas on December 21 as freshman Arterio Morris came off the bench to score a career-high 25 points to lead five players in double figures.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
| ODU | Arkansas State | Louisiana | |
| Record | 8-4 | 8-5 | 10-2 |
| Points Per Game | 68.5 | 68.9 | 83.4 |
| Opp. PPG | 65.1 | 64.3 | 72.3 |
| Scoring Margin | +3.4 | +4.6 | +11.1 |
| Rebounds Per Game | 37.8 | 35.1 | 37.7 |
| Rebound Margin | +5.0 | +3.6 | +6.1 |
| Assists Per Game | 11.3 | 15.5 | 15.9 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 10.5 | 12.2 | 13.2 |
| Blocks Per Game | 3.8 | 3.4 | 4.0 |
| Steals Per Game | 6.4 | 7.7 | 6.9 |
| Field Goal Pct. | .441 | .462 | .501 |
| Opp. FG Pct. | .425 | .417 | .436 |
| 3-Pt FG Pct. | .343 | .343 | .403 |
| Opp. 3-Pt FG Pct. | .313 | .388 | .318 |
| Free Throw Pct. | .624 | .641 | .700 |
| Leading Scorer | Jenkins-13.2 | Fields – 12.8 | Brown – 19.7 |
| Leading Rebounder | Long-7.3 | El-Sheikh – 8.8 | Lewis II – 8.8 |
| Leading Assists | Essien – 34 | Fields – 63 | Fulks – 70 |
| Leading Blocked Shots | Williams/Fields-12 | Nelson – 18 | Brown – 18 |
NET RANKINGS
Sun Belt Conference in the NCAA NET Rankings – as of 12/28
| Southern Miss. | 33 |
| Marshall | 64 |
| James Madison | 69 |
| Louisiana | 102 |
| Troy | 112 |
| South Alabama | 126 |
| Old Dominion | 132 |
| Texas State | 205 |
| App State | 240 |
| Georgia State | 265 |
| Georgia Southern | 267 |
| Coastal Carolina | 268 |
| Arkansas State | 290 |
| ULM | 347 |
NEXT GAME
The Monarchs will hit the road for the first time in Sun Belt Conference play heading to Troy on January 5 and then visit Georgia Southern on January 7.
SEASON TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW
Men's and women's basketball season tickets for the 2022-23 season are available now at ynottix.com.
Men's basketball season tickets cost $215. Women's basketball season tickets cost $115 for adults and $250 for courtside seating. Special pricing is available for senior citizens, ODU faculty and staff, and members of the military. Call the ODU Ticket Office at 757-683-4444 to receive special pricing.
Season tickets represent a savings of more than $50 for men's games and $45 for women's games, over single-game tickets. Single-game ticket prices start at $18 for men's games and $11 for women's games, with special pricing for senior citizens, ODU faculty and staff, youth (12 and younger) and members of the military. ODU students can register for student tickets for free to any ODU men's and women's home game.