NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men's basketball team will make its first Sun Belt Conference road trip of the year as they will visit Troy on Thursday night and then Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon.
The matchup with Troy will be the first-ever contest between the schools, while the Georgia Southern contest will be the first since the 2013-14 season. ODU holds a 14-4 lead in that series winning the last meeting 89-69. This will be the first time ODU has played at Georgia Southern since the 1979-80 campaign, which the Monarchs won 67-58.
STREAM/AUDIO
Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.
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 2:30 p.m. on Saturday with the Toyota Pregame Show.
LAST TIME OUT
Old Dominion held off a second-half charge from Louisiana to take a 70-66 win on December 31 at home. Tyreek Scott-Grayson had 17 points, including five in a row down the stretch to help keep the Ragin' Cajuns at bay. Chaunce Jenkins added 12 points, while Faizon Fields and D'Angelo Stines each had season highs of 11 points apiece.
Kieffer Punter scored 16 points to lead four in double figures as Troy defeated Texas State 55-52 on the road December 31. Zay Williams added 11 points, while Christyon Eugene and Aamer Muhammad added 10 apiece. The Trojans rallied from a three-point halftime deficit despite being out-rebounded on the night 38-22.
Three Georgia Southern Eagles scored 16 points apiece, and the visitors held Coastal Carolina to 40% shooting in the second half to take a 73-64 win on December 31. Jalen Finch, Kaden Archie and Andrei Savrasov had 16 points each, while Tyren Moore added 10 for the Eagles in the win. Georgia Southern hosts Marshall on Thursday before facing ODU on Saturday afternoon.
ABOUT ODU
The Monarchs have four players averaging at least 9.6 points per game as Scott-Grayson leads at 13.4 points per contest and has a team best 39 assists. Chaunce Jenkins follows at 13 points per game, while hitting 51% from the field. Ben Stanley adds 10.3 points per game, while Mekhi Long is just off the double figure pace at 9.6 points and a team best 7.6 rebounds per game.
ABOUT TROY
The Trojans have a balanced scoring attack with five players averaging at least 9.7 points per game. Duke Miles leads at 14.0 ppg and hitting 47% from 3-point range, while Eugene averages 11.9 points and hitting 41% from 3-point range. Williams follows at 11.5 points and a team high 6.4 rebounds per game, with Nelson Phillips adding 10.8 points and second in rebounds at 5.4 per contest. Muhammad adds 10.1 points and a team best 43 assists, with Punter just off double figures at 9.7 points per game.
ABOUT GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Savrasov leads the Eagles in scoring at 12.8 points per game and is second in rebounding at 6.6 per contest. The other double figure scorer for the Eagles is Finch who adds 10.5 points per game and a team-high 52 assists. Georgia Southern won both its games in the opening weekend defeating South Alabama (64-50) at home and Coastal Carolina (73-64) on the road.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
| ODU | Troy | Georgia Southern | |
| Record | 9-5/1-1 | 9-6/1-1 | 9-6/2-0 |
| Points Per Game | 67.8 | 76.5 | 68.1 |
| Opp. PPG | 64.8 | 65.4 | 62.7 |
| Scoring Margin | +3.0 | +11.1 | +5.4 |
| Rebounds Per Game | 38.1 | 34.3 | 36.1 |
| Rebound Margin | +4.6 | +1.2 | +3.0 |
| Assists Per Game | 11.1 | 14.5 | 10.6 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 10.6 | 12.7 | 11.7 |
| Blocks Per Game | 3.8 | 2.9 | 3.2 |
| Steals Per Game | 6.3 | 9.0 | 8.3 |
| Field Goal Pct. | .431 | .454 | .444 |
| Opp. FG Pct. | .422 | .433 | .421 |
| 3-Pt FG Pct. | .347 | .331 | .280 |
| Opp. 3-Pt FG Pct. | .310 | .309 | .326 |
| Free Throw Pct. | .625 | .704 | .673 |
| Opp. FT Pct. | .671 | .740 | .680 |
| Leading Scorer | Scott-Grayson 13.4 | Miles – 14.0 | Savrasov – 12.8 |
| Leading Rebounder | Long-7.6 | Williams – 6.4 | Curry – 7.7 |
| Leading Assists | Scott-Grayson 39 | Muhammad – 43 | Finch – 52 |
| Leading Blocked Shots | Fields-15 | Williams – 11 | Brown – 12 |
| Leading Steals | Long – 21 | Phillips – 32 | Finch - 26 |
NET RANKINGS
Sun Belt Conference in the NCAA NET Rankings – as of 1/3
| Southern Miss. | 45 |
| James Madison | 46 |
| Marshall | 68 |
| Troy | 115 |
| Louisiana | 126 |
| Old Dominion | 149 |
| South Alabama | 184 |
| Georgia Southern | 210 |
| Texas State | 236 |
| App State | 239 |
| Georgia State | 251 |
| Coastal Carolina | 263 |
| Arkansas State | 293 |
| ULM | 317 |
NEXT GAME
The Monarchs will entertain Coastal Carolina on January 12 at 7 p.m. inside Chartway Arena.
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.