Men's Basketball Visits Southern Miss Wednesday

ODU (6-17, 2-9) at Southern Miss (12-11, 6-5) | vs Central Michigan (13-9, 7-2 MAC)
WHEN: Wednesday, Feb. 7 – 8:00 p.m. EST| Saturday, Feb. 10 – 2:00 p.m.
WHERE: Reed Green Coliseum (Hattiesburg, Miss.) | Chartway Arena (Norfolk, Va.)
LIVE STATS: Southern Miss | Central Michigan
WATCH: Southern Miss | Central Michigan
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NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men's basketball team concludes a three-game road swing and then starts a five-game homestand this week with a pair of games.

On Wednesday, the Monarchs visit Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in Sun Belt Conference action for an 8:00 p.m. EST tip. Saturday will be the first of five straight at home with the second half of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge hosting Central Michigan at 2:00 p.m.

Old Dominion (6-17, 2-9) holds a 12-3 lead in the overall series with Southern Miss (12-11, 6-5) and has won the last three meetings. ODU took a 69-64 win over the Golden Eagles in Norfolk on Feb. 22, 2023. The Monarchs hit 9-of-11 free throws in the final 83 seconds to ice the win as Mekhi Long had 20 points and Chaunce Jenkins scored 16 with six rebounds and five assists.
 
This will be the first-ever meeting with Central Michigan on Saturday. It will be the MAC Smackdown Challenge as various restaurants will be serving macaroni and cheese in the lobby of Chartway Arena.
 
ABOUT ODU
ODU enters this week after splitting a pair of road contests last week. They defeated Marshall 83-76 on Thursday night, then fell to JMU 78-63 on Saturday afternoon.
 
Against Marshall, the Monarchs closed the game on a 20-5 run over the last 5:55. Bryce Baker hit three 3-pointers in the run, including the back breaker with 44 seconds on the clock. He took a feed from Jenkins, who had two players on him, and drained one from the left wing for a 77-73 lead.
 
Devin Ceaser had 20 points to lead four in double figures against Marshall. Jenkins added 17, while Tyrone Williams had 15 points and seven rebounds, with Baker adding 12 on four 3-pointers.
 
At JMU, the Monarchs used a 7-0 run capped by a Ceaser layup, followed by a 1-of-2 from the line to lead 25-23 with 5:44 left. That lead grew to four a couple of occasions with a Williams 3-ball giving the Monarchs a 36-32 lead with 64 seconds remaining in the first half.
 
Ceaser was the leading scorer with 14 points, while Williams had 13, Jenkins chipped in 12 and R.J. Blakney added 10 against the Dukes.
For the season, Jenkins leads the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game and a team-high 59 assists. Williams follows at 11.9 points and a team-high 5.5 rebounds and 32 steals, while Ceaser is right behind at 9.0 points per game. R.J. Blakney is next at 8.0 ppg and second on the team with 4.0 rebounds per contest, while leading in blocked shots with 20.
 
As a team, the Monarchs are averaging 71.7 points per game and allowing 77.3. From the floor, the Monarchs are hitting 615-of-1438 (42.8%) from the field, 157-of-488 (32.2%) from 3-point range and 262-of-394 from the foul line (66.5%). The opposition is hitting 595-of-1356 from the field (43.9%), 214-of-602 from 3-point range (35.5%) and 374-of-519 (72.1%) from the line. ODU is being outrebounded 39.7 to 35.0 per game. The Monarchs average 11 turnovers per game and force 13.2 per contest.
 
ABOUT SOUTHERN MISS
The Golden Eagles enter the contest having lost its last three games falling on the road to Marshall (83-67), Arkansas State (78-71) and Texas State (60-55). In the Texas State contest, Austin Crowley led four Golden Eagles in double figures with 16 points, while Mo Arnold added 14, Victory Iwuakor 11 and Cobie Montgomery 10.
 
Crowley leads the team in scoring at 15.6 points per game, a team-high 73 assists and shares the lead in steals with 30. Victor Hart follows at 13.3 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game. Donovan Hart was next at 13 points per game with a team-high 40 3-pointers, Andre Curbelo rounds out the double figure scorers at 12 points per game, while Iwuakor had a team-high 43 blocked shots.
 
As a team, Southern Miss is averaging 69.5 points per game and allowing 70.7 per contest. From the floor, the Golden Eagles are hitting 548-of-1324 (41.4%), 151-of-457 (33%) from 3-point land and 352-of-496 from the line (71%). Their opponents are hitting 584-of-1353 (43.2%) from the field, 175-of-504 from 3-point range (34.7%) and 282-of-425 (66.4%) from the foul line. Southern Miss is being outrebounded 37.4 to 36.5 per game and average 11.9 turnovers while forcing 12.8 per game.
 
ABOUT CENTRAL MICHIGAN
The Chippewas will play at league-leading Akron on Wednesday night before coming to Norfolk. Central Michigan has won eight of its last nine games, including a pair of double overtime victories last week. They defeated Northern Illinois (84-77) on January 30 and then won at Bowling Green (77-76) on Saturday. The only loss in their last nine was at Ohio (71-63) on January 16.
 
Anthony Pritchard leads the team in scoring (14.6 ppg), assists (99) and steals (38). Brian Taylor follows him in scoring (12.4) and leads the team in rebounding (7.5 rpg) along with blocked shots (21). Markus Harding rounds out the double figure scorers at 10.6 points per game, with Derrick Butler on the edge averaging 9.6 points per contest. Aidan Rubio tops Central Michigan in 3-pointers made (32) and 3-point percentage (.444), while Butler is right behind with 28 makes and a .438 percentage.
As a team, Central Michigan is averaging 68 points per game and allowing 71.7. They're hitting 559-of-1281 (43.6%) from the field, 134-of-421 from 3-point range (31.8%) and 245-of-362 (67.7%) from the line. Their opponents are hitting 557-of-1294 (43%) from the field, 163-of-531 (30.7%) from 3-point land and 301-of-407 from the line (74%). Central Michigan is being outrebounded 36.0 to 35.1 per game.
 
MAC-SUN BELT CHALLENGE
The games will feature 12 Sun Belt Conference (SBC) men's basketball programs hosting 12 Mid-American Conference (MAC) teams based on current NET rankings.
 
The November matchups occurred during the 2023-24 season's opening week. Each MAC and Sun Belt team included in the MAC-SBC Challenge, currently scheduled to take place during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns, is guaranteed one home and one away game each season.
 
In addition to relevant NET data, geography and frequency of past contests is considered in determining the matchups. 
 
NEXT UP
The men will continue a five-game homestand next week as they'll face Louisiana on February 15 and Georgia State on February 17 with both games being at 7:00 p.m. inside Chartway Arena.