Division title is within grasp
Old Dominion controls its destiny with two-game series at Western Kentucky
NORFOLK — In one way, the stakes couldn’t be clearer. In another, it’s a complete mess.
When second-place Old Dominion visits first-place Western Kentucky to open a two-game series tonight, a Conference USA East Division title will be on the line.
Win both games, and the Monarchs are champions. Win neither, and … well, it’s complicated.
But the bottom line is this: ODU (14-6, 10-4 C-USA) commands its own destiny. And going into the final weekend of the most bizarre and convoluted regular season on record, it’s really quite simple.
“We’ve got to go out there and win games,” said junior guard A.J. Oliver. “And that’s all we’re focused on ... is winning these next two.”
If the Monarchs sweep the series, they’ll be the top seed out of the East in next week’s league tournament in Frisco, Texas. If they split, they’ll earn the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye.
Sweeps by Western Kentucky and by third-place Marshall over fifth-place Charlotte this weekend would send ODU to the third seed and a first-round game against the No. 6 seed from the West on
Wednesday.
Complexities aside, Monarchs coach Jeff Jones said he has been fully transparent with his players.
“You don’t want to overdo anything,” Jones said. “I think you want to be clear. You want to be direct. You want to be open. But kids these days, young men these days, they’re too savvy. You can’t BS them. You can’t fool them. So I think being honest and making
sure they know what’s at stake and what it’s going to take is the right approach.”
One uncertainty was cleared up Thursday, when C-USA announced attendance protocols for the tournament.
This week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he was lifting the state’s COVID-19 mask restrictions and returning capacity at businesses and events to 100% — a scary proposition for a program that was shut down for two weeks in January because of several positive tests among players and staff.
In a press release, C-USA said entry into the tournament “will be restricted to official team parties, essential tournament personnel, credentialed media, television and radio crews and limited general admission.”
Fans, including frontline workers and first responders who will be admitted through promotional opportunities, will be required to wear masks in the arena, and seating will be spaced out and limited to one side.
It’s the latest adjustment to a season that’s been anything but normal.
“People ask me, ask our staff, ‘How are you doing?’ ” Jones said. “The response is, ‘You take it day by day.’ It’s Groundhog Day. You wake up, you get your COVID test, you come into the office, we practice and you go home. And then rinse and repeat. That’s what it is, and you’ve got to be able to deal with the monotony of it, but still have that passion and that energy to try to be the best that you can.”
The Monarchs, winners of three straight for the second time this season, are attempting to be at their best game by game.
Sophomore guard Jaylin Hunter, who scored a careerhigh 17 points off the bench in Saturday’s 73-60 sweep-capping win over Middle Tennessee, said there’s more work to do.
“We hope this isn’t our peak,” he said. “We hope we peak come March, starting (this weekend). That’s when I hope we ascend the most.”
The Hilltoppers (17-5, 10-2) hope to stand in the way. Led by 6-foot-11 center Charles Bassey, who averages 17.8 points and a league-high 11.8 rebounds per game, Western Kentucky is in the conversation for an at-large NCAA tournament bid.
Along with guards Taveion Hollingsworth (14.2 ppg) and Josh Anderson (10 ppg), Bassey provides the Hilltoppers with no shortage of ways to win. The key, Oliver said, is simple. “The biggest thing for us this weekend is being able to stop the guys that can score,” he said. “Stop those guys, make everybody else play solid and we’ll be fine.”
ODU will be bolstered by the availability of leading scorer Malik Curry, who left Saturday’s game with a head injury, but was cleared to play this week.
The Monarchs, who won the league tournament in 2019, are looking for a repeat of sorts after last year’s event was halted by COVID.
This season, Jones said, has been rendered almost unrecognizable by the pandemic.
Through a program pause, quarantining players, endless testing, a wildly altered C-USA schedule and a general halt to life as college students have known it, ODU still sits positioned to come through it all with a championship.
“I think for the players, I would say, undoubtedly, this has got to be the hardest season for any team that I can think of, having to go through all of this stuff,” Jones said. “A lot of that is kind of non-basketball-related. That’s just kind of their life for right now. But for me, I would take this season and set it apart, put an asterisk next to it. Just kind of use that as an example of something we don’t ever want to have to go through again.”