Old Dominion University’s men’s basketball team will begin its Sun Belt Championship campaign as the No. 11 seed, facing off against the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM), seeded 14th, on Tuesday, March 3 at 8:30 p.m. ET. The game will be held at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida.
The matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with commentary from Matt Stewart and Victor Howell. Radio coverage will be provided by Ted Alexander and Kieran Donohue on ESPN Sports Radio 94.1 FM. Fans can also access a live stream of the ODU radio broadcast via the ODU Athletics Facebook page.
The winner of this first-round contest will advance to play Georgia Southern, the tournament’s tenth seed, on Wednesday evening.
This meeting marks only the fourth time these programs have played each other and their first encounter in the Sun Belt Championship. In their most recent regular season game on February 4, ULM secured an 85-79 win in Norfolk. Krystian Lewis led ULM with 28 points, Lavell Brodnex recorded a double-double with 21 points and ten rebounds, while MJ Russell also contributed 21 points. For Old Dominion, Jordan Battle scored 23 points, KC Shaw added 16, Zacch Wiggins had 13, and LJ Thomas finished with 12.
Old Dominion enters the tournament following an 81-73 victory over Georgia State last Friday. The Monarchs overcame a six-point halftime deficit by outscoring Georgia State by fourteen points in the second half to complete a season sweep.
ODU’s leading scorers are KC Shaw (17.1 ppg), Jordan Battle (14.6 ppg), and LJ Thomas (11.4 ppg). Shaw ranks sixth in conference scoring while Battle leads his team in three-pointers made and was top in conference play for three-point shooting percentage at 42.2%. Battle is also second in free-throw percentage in the league at 84.6%, leads ODU with assists (92), and is fifth in steals within the Sun Belt Conference.
Caelum Swanton-Rodger has contributed an average of 8.4 points per game along with a team-best of 149 rebounds this season; he is also among conference leaders in blocks per game.
As a team, ODU averages 75.6 points per game—fifth highest in the conference—but has been outscored by opponents by nearly two points per game on average this season.
Last year as a tenth seed, Old Dominion won three games before falling to eventual champion Troy in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Championship.
ULM comes into Tuesday’s matchup having lost seven consecutive games after an 80-65 defeat at Troy last Friday. Brodnex led ULM with twenty points and nine rebounds during that loss; four other Warhawks reached double figures as well.
Krystian Lewis leads ULM both offensively—with an average of eighteen points per game—and nationally ranked numbers for free throws made and attempted as well as field goal attempts this season.
ULM has struggled defensively throughout its schedule; they have allowed opponents to score almost twelve more points than themselves per contest while averaging just over seventy-two points scored per game.
Bon Secours is serving as presenting sponsor for Old Dominion University’s men’s basketball season this year.
