WKU Basketball: Assessing the Adversary: Old Dominion Monarchs
One down and two to go. The Tops whipped the mighty Jon Davis and his seven dwarves so soundly Thursday that most of the WKU bench and allegedly a couple of managers got minutes. Today is likely to be rather different. The Fellas face off against the Old Dominion Monarchs which some projections have as the lone C-USA representative dancing in March.
Game Info
Time: 6:00 p.m. CT
Location: Ted Constant Convocation Center| Norfolk, VA
TV: Stadium on Facebook
Radio: The Hilltopper IMG Sports Network
Here’s a look at Old Dominion University:
- Location: Norfolk, VA
- Student Population: Approx: 25,000
- Endowment: $213.7 Million
- Motto: Portal to New Worlds
- Mascot: Big Blue (Big Red please eat him to assert your dominance)
- The amount owed to the Commonwealth of VA for its investment in their failed on campus maglev: $7 Million
- Number of schools they were before gaining their independence in a mighty bureaucratic struggle: 2 (VA Tech and William & Mary)
- Famous Alumni: Justin Verlander and Ben Bailey (the freaking Cash Cab guy!) (there are a few others but no one can top Ben Bailey so I’m quitting while I’m ahead)
Old Dominion is another school that is remarkably unremarkable (except for Ben Bailey and the Maglev); an offshoot of more established and prestigious schools that stepped out on its own based on a Federal Government grant as part of the New Deal. They do have one awesome thing though. A MAGLEV TRAIN!! (think the monorail train thing at Disney World)
Well, they had an idea for a Maglev, the bones of a structure that was completed but they never got to function (so much for those engineering roots Monarchs), and according to an article from the Virginian Pilot, 7 million dollars of debt to Virginia for the funds the Commonwealth lent them to complete the now failed project. The more I write these the more I find myself saying “seriously this is true” because I find the weirdest things when I look up these schools. But again, I can’t make this up.
Another little nugget is that the school has some on-campus apartments named Powhatan I and II, collectively Powhatan Village **insert uncomfortable noise here**. I can’t help but laugh at a school in Virginia naming two of its dorms after a Native American tribe that just so happened to live in the area when settlers arrived….how did that conversation go:
ODU Big Wig 1: Hey, you know how the settlers of this area conquered it from native tribes and gave everyone smallpox?
ODU Big Wig 2: Yup. Why?
ODU Big Wig 1: Well I was thinking, maybe we should honor them in some way. Make it up to them.
ODU Big Wig 2: Yea? How?
ODU Big Wig 1: I was thinking of naming some crappy apartment style dorms after them. That should make us about square right?
All in Attendance: Yup, that should do it! Even Steven!
ODU Monarchs MBB
Anyways, let’s take a look at their Men’s basketball team this season.
2018–19 Record: 10–4
KenPom/NET Rankings: 78/89 (they were 63rd prior to the Marshall loss..ouch)
Projected Conference Finish: 3rd
Old Dominion comes into this game off a heartbreaking loss to Marshall at home. They’ve had a good season so far and even have a ranked win at Syracuse. They’ve been dubbed mini UVA by many pundits for the deliberate style and smothering defense they like to run.
They are led by redshirt senior (yes he is 30 years old by now) guard B.J. Stith who averages 18.2 PPG, shoots 40% from three-point land, and interestingly, 8.2 RPG. Not far behind is senior guard Ahmad Caver (17.6 PPG, 5.7 APG) who looks like one of the best distributors in the league. They have two bigs over 6’10” (both are 7 footers).
What to Watch for
This is a team that prides itself on stifling defense and offensive efficiency. Their point guard has 80 assists on the year and as a team, they are holding opponents to a measly 57.5 PPG. Much like Wisconsin, they don’t score a lot of points, only 66.4 a game, because they don’t have to. If the Tops want to come back to the Hill with a win they will have to be patient.
Interestingly, Stith, a guard, averages the most rebounds per game for ODU. Bearing that in mind I think the rebounding battle will be key tonight. ODU is out-rebounding their opponents pretty significantly on the season. If the Tops can take advantage on the glass, particularly if Banton can take advantage of his length to limit guards getting their own missed shots, I think they have a good shot.
On the flip side, I’m afraid that the team has fallen in love with the three after their success in that area the last two games. I sincerely hope they are patient in their shot selection and feed Bassey to open up the likes of Savage and maybe Ohmer if he continues his heater. This will be a benchmark game for the Fellas; can they sustain their level of effort and overcome one of the best defenses in the conference before making the trip to Huntington next week? Here’s hoping.
