Men's Basketball Starts February On Road At Marshall And JMU

ODU (5-16, 1-8) at Marshall (11-11, 6-3) | at James Madison (18-3, 6-3)
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 1 – 7:00 p.m.| Saturday, Feb. 3 – 4:00 p.m.
WHERE: Cam Henderson Center (Huntington, W.Va.) | Atlantic Union Bank Center (Harrisonburg, Va.)
LIVE STATS: Marshall | JMU
WATCH: Marshall | JMU
LISTEN – Priority Auto Sports Radio 94,1 FM
SOCIAL MEDIA - Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
 
NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men's basketball team begins the month of February with a three-game road trip starting on Thursday night as they visit Marshall and then head to James Madison for a Saturday afternoon tilt.
 
Both games are rematches of earlier contests this season. ODU defeated Marshall 91-66 on January 18. Against JMU, the Monarchs have dropped a pair of games 84-69 on December 9 and 78-62 on January 24.
 
ODU leads the all-time series with Marshall 15-14 as the teams have split their last eight meetings. Against JMU, the Monarchs hold a 58-32 advantage though the Dukes have won the last six meetings.
 
The games will be streamed on ESPN+ and you could also listen to Ted Alexander and Dennis Wolff on Priority Auto Sports 94.1 FM starting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
 
ABOUT ODU
The Monarchs (5-16, 1-8) staged a frantic second half comeback on Saturday night and fell 76-70 to Georgia Southern to finish out the four-game homestand. Chaunce Jenkins had 20 points to lead three in double figures for ODU in a game that saw the Monarchs trim a 16-point deficit with 15 minutes left down to one with 32 seconds. The Eagles hit 7 of 8 free throws from there for the win.
 
In the earlier meeting with Marshall, ODU trailed 38-34 at the half but shot a season high 67.7% from the floor in the second half and 60% from 3-point range to take the 91-66 win. Jenkins had 16 points and five rebounds, while Tyrone Williams had 13 points and seven boards, R.J. Blakney added 12 points and eight boards, and Bryce Baker had 12 points off the bench.
 
Against JMU on December 9, in front of a Chartway Arena record crowd of 8,504, the Monarchs trimmed a 24-point deficit to 14 in the second half but fell 84-69. Jenkins topped the Monarchs with 19 points, Devin Ceaser had 13 points, while Tyrone Williams had 11 and six rebounds. 
 
The second matchup on January 24 had the Monarchs playing catch up as JMU jumped out to a 20-point halftime lead and pushed the advantage to 25, before the Monarchs made a run trimming it to 11 as they fell 78-62. Williams had 14 points and five rebounds, while Jenkins had 10 points  and Blakney added eight points and six rebounds.
 
Jenkins leads the team in scoring averaging 15.9 points per game, to go along with 3.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Williams is the other double figure scorer averaging 11.7 points and a team-high 5.6 rebounds per game. Ceaser is averaging 8.2 points per game and hitting a team-best .395 from 3-point range.
 
As a team, the Monarchs are averaging 71.6 ppg and allowing 77.3. ODU is hitting .425 from the floor and .319 from 3-point range, while the opponents are at .438 from the floor and .357 from 3-point land. At the foul line, ODU is hitting .658 with opponents at .730. ODU is being outrebounded 40.1 to 35.0 per game.
 
ABOUT MARSHALL
Marshall (11-11, 6-3) has won its last two games defeating Georgia State (77-68) on January 24 and Southern Miss (83-67) on January 27 both at home where they are 4-1 in conference play this year.
 
Obinna Anochili-Killen leads the team in scoring at 16.3 points per game, while second in rebounding (6.2 rpg) and blocked shots (24). Kamdyn Curfman is averaging 14.1 points per game, leads the team with 66 3-pointers made and second in assists with 66. Kevon Voyles is averaging 12.7 points per game, while Nate Martin is at 11.2 points and a team-high 9.6 rebounds per game.
 
Anochili-Killen paced Marshall in the previous meeting with 21 points and seven rebounds to lead three in double figures. Curfman had 12 points, all on 3-point shots, while Martin had 12 points and eight rebounds. ODU held Marshall to 25% shooting in the second half to pull away for the win.
 
As a team, Marshall is averaging 75.4 points per game and allowing 76.0. The Herd is shooting .418 from the floor, .307 from 3-point range and .716 from the line. Their opponents are shooting .437 from the floor, .337 from 3-point range and .718 from the foul line. Marshall holds a slight 39.9 to 38.5 rebounding advantage over their opponents.
 
ABOUT JMU
Following their win at ODU on January 24, the Dukes dropped an 82-76 decision at league leading App State on January 27 to fall to 18-3 overall and 6-3 in league play. They'll play host to Coastal Carolina on Thursday before entertaining ODU on Saturday.
 
Julien Wooden paced four in double figures with 23 points, while Noah Friedel added 15, T.J. Bickerstaff had 12 points and 12 rebounds, with Xavier Brown adding 10 in the second meeting. The Monarchs trimmed a 25-point deficit to 11 in the second half, but saw JMU win 78-62.
 
In the meeting back on December 9, Bickerstaff paced JMU with 21 points and 12 rebounds leading four in double figures. Terrence Edwards added 13 points and five assists, Michael Green had 13 points and nine assists, while Jaylen Carey also had 13 points and added five rebounds. JMU opened hitting 58.2% from the field in the first half and kept ODU at bay in an 84-69 win.
 
Edwards leads the team in scoring at 17 points per game and second in assists with 68. Bickerstaff is averaging 13.9 points and a team best 9.2 rebounds per game. Friedel is coming in at 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and a team high 13 blocked shots, while Wooden is averaging 10.5 points per game.
 
As a team, JMU is averaging 85.1 points per game and allowing 69.4. The Dukes are shooting .470 from the floor, .340 from 3-point range and .700 from the foul line. Opponents are hitting .413 from the floor, .290 from 3-point land and .706 from the foul line. JMU is outrebounding their opponents 40.6 to 35.1 per game.
 
NEXT WEEK
ODU will conclude a three-game road swing with a visit to Southern Miss on February 7 for an 8 p.m. EST tip. The Monarchs return home on February 10 for a 2 p.m. tip against Central Michigan in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.