ODU Men's Basketball Ends a Memorable Season With Sun Belt Tournament Loss to Texas State

 By Harry Minium

PENSACOLA, Fla. – What was a good and, in some ways, inspiring Old Dominion men's basketball season ended Thursday night with the Monarchs worst performance of the season.
 
ODU fell behind 16-1 in the early minutes, trailed by 18 at halftime and was soundly beaten by Texas State, 65-36, in the Sun Belt Conference second round in the Pensacola Bay Center.
 
ODU won eight of its last 10 games, and knocked off Southern Miss and Marshall, the Sun Belt's top two teams, last week in the final two games of the regular season.
 
The Monarchs managed to fashion a 19-11 regular season record while being plagued with injuries and illness and built a reputation as a team that played with a ton of heart.
 
Texas State, meanwhile, lost seven of its last 10 games, including a 70-68 home loss to ODU on Feb. 11.
 
But on this night there was no doubt who has the better team. The 11^th-seeded Bobcats (15-18) played harder, faster and more aggressively and shot better than sixth-seeded ODU (19-12).

ODU made just 12 of 52 shots (23.1 percent), 2 of 14 three-pointers (14.3 percent) and 10 of 19 foul shots (52.6 percent) and was out rebounded, 43-32. Texas State, meanwhile shot 46 percent and was 7 of 20 on three pointers.

It was ODU's worst loss ever in a conference tournament.

Senior Tyreek Scott-Grayson, who played his final game as a Monarch, and junior Dericko Williams each led ODU with eight points while Mekhi Long scored seven and led ODU with eight rebounds.

ODU head coach Jeff Jones said that the intensity, and physicality, ramps up during conference tournament play but that his players did not step it up like they needed to.

"They totally outplayed us," he said. "They out-hustled us, they out-toughed us. 

"You know, I think they played played the way we anticipated they would and we just didn't have much of a response."

He said, without being critical of game officials, "that it was like a rugby game out there tonight. It was very physical and that's often the way it is in conference tournaments.

"And we just didn't respond to that like we needed to."

The Bobcats also used numbers to put a choke hold on Chaunce Jenkins, ODU's leading scorer. Jenkins was unable to drive to the basket or create plays as he usually does. Jenkins, a sophomore transfer from Wichita State, missed all eight shots he took, had one assist and scored three points. 

"Chaunce was never able to get on track," Jones said, "They did a great job of defending him off the dribble. Without him creating, we didn't have a whole lot of great options."

Shellshocked by Texas State's aggressive man-to-man defense, ODU missed its first seven shots and committed six turnovers in the game's first eight minutes. Most of the missed shots and turnovers were forced by Texas State.
 
Texas State quickly rolled out to a 16-1 lead and extended it to 19-3 on a Nate Martin three-pointer with 11:10 to go.
 
ODU finally made a field goal with 10:47 left on Scott-Grayson's driving layup to the basket that trimmed the Texas State lead to 19-5.
 
But the Bobcats just kept on rolling. Texas State led, 32-12 on a Mason Harrell three-pointer before D'Angelo Stines cut the halftime lead to 18 on a long jump shot with 17 seconds left.
 
ODU played better in the early minutes of the second half, but not nearly well enough to erase the deficit. The Monarchs trimmed the lead to 16 at one point, but got no closer. Texas State slowed down the game and milked the clock and ran up the lead.

Texas State won the last two Sun Belt regular season titles and Bobcats coach Terrence Johnson said his team's experience playing in the Sun Belt Tournament, and in Pensacola, gave his team an advantage.

"We wanted to jump on them early and make them start thinking," he said.

"This was a program win for them," Jones added. "They've played with grit and competitiveness all year long.  But it was especially evident tonight. 

"I thought we were ready to play, but we weren't ready to play the way we had to."

Jones acknowledged that losing by such a lopsided margin "really stings. We aren't accustomed to getting our butts kicked like this.

"But as I told the guys in the locker room, after it wears off, and that's going to take a while. It's almost like mourning the loss and everyone has to go through that process. But hopefully at some point they can appreciate what we were able to accomplish this season under adverse conditions.

"And one of the things that makes me proud of these guys is that we didn't just say we were going to stick together through thick, we actually did it.

"It didn't help us a lot on the court today. But these guys care about each other and they fought.

"Texas State was just too good for us today."