Old Dominion (8-17, 4-8 Sun Belt) vs. Marshall (15-9, 7-4 Sun Belt)
Game Info – Wednesday, Feb. 11 – 7:30 p.m.
Location – Chartway Arena (Norfolk, Va.)
Watch – ESPN+
Listen – ESPN Sports Radio 94.1 FM
Live Stats – Click Here
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NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion men’s basketball continues its five-game homestand this Wednesday when the Monarchs welcome Marshall for a 7:30 p.m. Sun Belt Conference game at Chartway Arena.
Fans can watch Scott Jackson and Billy Mann on ESPN+ or tune into ESPN Sports Radio 94.1 to hear Ted Alexander and Dennis Wolff. Live stats will also be available.
Wednesday marks a doubleheader for the Monarchs with the ODU women’s basketball team hosting Coastal Carolina at 5 p.m. Fans with tickets to one of the games will be able to watch both.
Series History
Wednesday will mark the 33rd meeting between the two programs, with the all-time series tied at 16-16. Marshall took both meetings last season, winning 81-77 on Feb. 20 in Norfolk and 83-66 on Feb. 25 in Huntington, West Virginia. In the first game, ODU trailed 41-26 at halftime and pulled to within three with 40 seconds remaining, but Marshall made four free throws late to prevent the comeback. Sean Durugordon scored 19 points and Robert Davis Jr. added 18 points. Davis Jr. then scored 23 points to lead the Monarchs in the second meeting.
ODU is 11-4 when playing Marshall in Norfolk. The two teams will play again in Huntington on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m.
About ODU
After falling 85-79 to ULM last Wednesday, the Monarchs (8-17, 4-8 Sun Belt) got back in the win column with a 78-72 victory over Ohio University in the second round of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. ODU had four players finish in double figures: KC Shaw led the way with 17 points, Caelum Swanton-Rodger followed with 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds, and LJ Thomas and Jordan Battle contributed 13 points each.
The win also clinched the Sun Belt’s victory in the Challenge, 14-12. This marks the third season of the scheduling alliance between the two leagues, and the SBC has now claimed the title twice. The Sun Belt combined for 15 wins in 24 matchups in 2023-24. ODU opened the season with an 87-72 loss at Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 3 in the first round of the Challenge. The RedHawks are now the only remaining undefeated Division I program after No. 1 Arizona fell 82-78 to No. 9 Kansas on Monday night.
Shaw paces the offense with 16.6 ppg, good for fifth in the Sun Belt. Also averaging double-digit scoring are Battle (14.1 ppg) and Thomas (11.0 ppg). Battle leads the team with 57 made three-pointers, 69 assists, and 37 steals. The Norfolk native is also fourth in the league in free-throw shooting (83.7%) and sixth in free throws made (108). Davis Jr. (9.5 ppg) did not play against the Bobcats and follows Battle with 51 made threes. He has made 166 triples in his two seasons in Norfolk and needs two more to move past head coach Mike Jones into sixth place on the program’s all-time leaders list.
Swanton-Rodger nets 7.4 ppg and has pulled down 123 rebounds (5.1 rpg), while Battle averages 5.1 rpg with 125 boards. Thomas enters the week with 59 assists and ranks sixth in the SBC with a 1.70 assist-to-turnover ratio, and Swanton-Rodger also ranks sixth in the conference with 34 blocks and 1.42 blocks per game.
ODU comes into Wednesday’s matchup averaging 74.1 ppg with opponents scoring 77.5 ppg for a -3.4-scoring margin. The Monarchs shoot 42.8% from the floor, including 33.5% from distance, and 72.4% at the free-throw line. The team ranks third in the league in three-point percentage defense (31.4%) and is fifth in scoring offense, assist-to-turnover ratio (1.15), and turnovers per game (10.9).
Through games played on Feb. 8, the Monarchs are listed 260th in the NET rankings.
About Marshall
The Thundering Herd (15-9, 7-4 Sun Belt) defeated Southern Miss, 81-77 at home last Wednesday, but then fell 90-74 to No. 23/24 Miami (Ohio) on Saturday in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. Noah Otshudi led the Herd with 23 points on 11-for-19 (57.9%) shooting from the floor. Wyatt Fricks turned in a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double, Jalen Speer also scored 13 points with four steals, and Landen Joseph chipped in 11 points.
Otshudi and Fricks both average 14.5 ppg, and Speer is close behind them with 14.2 ppg. Speer ranks third in the Sun Belt in three-point shooting (35.4%), three-point attempts (181), and threes per game (2.67). The graduate student is also the league leader in assists (136) and assists per game (5.7) and ranks second with a 2.31 assist-to-turnover ratio. Fricks is currently second in the SBC with 53.7% shooting from the floor, and Otshudi is the second-best free-throw shooter in the conference at 86.5%.
Matt Van Komen (7.6 ppg) is Marshall’s leading rebounder with 168 boards (7.6 rpg). The graduate student ranks seventh nationally with 2.64 blocks per game and he’s 12th in Division I with 58 total blocks.
Marshall is outscoring opponents by an average of 5.1 points, averaging 79.9 ppg while allowing 74.8 ppg. The Herd ranks 14th in the country with 5.4 blocks per game and leads the Sun Belt in three-point shooting (36.3%), threes per game (10.0), effective field goal shooting (54.2%), and assists per game (17.0). The team is second in the SBC in field-goal percentage (46.1%), fastbreak points(12.63), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.38) and the Herd is third in offensive rebounds per game (12.17).
Marshall is led by second-year head coach Cornelius Jackson and was picked to finish sixth in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Speer landed on the Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team, and Van Komen was voted to the Third Team. The Herd is 138th in the latest NET rankings.
Up Next
Old Dominion will host Georgia State this Saturday, Feb. 14 at 3:30 p.m. The game will mark both Senior Day and Alumni Day for the Monarchs. The program will also retire Ronnie Valentine’s No. 42 jersey.
Season Sponsor
Bon Secours is the Presenting Sponsor of Old Dominion University’s 2025-26 Men’s Basketball Season. Bon Secours is proud to operate its four hospitals and medical centers in Hampton Roads and is even more proud to serve the surrounding community with exceptional care. It’s our mission at Bon Secours Hampton Roads to treat the whole person — mind, body and spirit, to bring compassion to health care, and to be good help to those in need. Bon Secours – the health care you deserve from a team you can trust.