Dartmouth Takes On ODU for First Time in 40 Years

DARTMOUTH (0-4) at
OLD DOMINION (3-2)

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 30 • 7 P.M.
TED CONSTANT CENTER (9,100), NORFOLK, VA.
Video: C-USA TV
Audio: ESPN Radio (94.1 FM Norfolk)
Announcers: Ted Alexander (play-by-play), Dave Twardzik (analyst)
Live Stats: ODUSports.com
All-Time Series vs. Old Dominion: Monarchs lead 1-0
Last Meeting vs. Monarchs: Dec. 28, 1976 — Old Dominion 95, Dartmouth 70

Rematch 40 Years in the Making
• Dartmouth finally gets the opportunity to avenge a 95-70 loss against Old Dominion in 1976 as it plays the Monarchs in Norfolk on Wednesday night.
• To do so, the Big Green will need to snap its season-opening skid that was extended to four in an 86-80 defeat at Longwood on Monday.
• The offense performed well, shooting a robust 55.8 percent (29-of-52) from the floor, its highest rate against a Division I team since Feb. 27, 2015.
• The two sophomores on the squad, Evan Boudreaux and Guilien Smith, each contributed 21 points, the latter recording a career high.
• Boudreaux, who scored in double figures for the 28th time in 31 career games, also led Dartmouth on the boards for his 16th straight game with nine rebounds.
• Smith, meanwhile, is second only to Boudreaux in scoring (17.5 to 15.0 ppg) and leads the team in three-pointers (8) and percentage (.421).
• Miles Wright matched his career high with four assists, and his eight rebounds were his most since collecting nine against Longwood last year.
• Dartmouth hit 81.0 percent at the foul line the first two games, but free throw woes the past two games (combined 25-for-44, .568) have proven to be costly in consecutive six-point losses.
• The 0-4 start is the worst for the Big Green since the 2009-10 campaign. Dartmouth won its fifth game that year at home against Hartford, 68-56.

Series vs. Old Dominion
• As noted, Dartmouth played ODU 40 years ago, on my sister's birthday no less (she turned eight that day). That is the lone meeting between the two on the hardwood.
• The game was part of the Kiwanis-ODU Classic here in Norfolk.
• That Big Green team was coached by Gary Walters, who served 20 years as Princeton's athletics director long after playing point guard on the Tigers' Final Four squad in 1965.
• Dartmouth has never beaten one of the current teams that make up Conference USA, going 0-2 against Rice and 0-1 versus Florida International to go with the loss to the Monarchs.

Scouting the Monarchs
• All five of Old Dominion's games have been decided by single digits with wins over James Madison, Richmond and St. John's.
• The two losses were both by six points and came at the Battle 4 Atlantis last week, taking 10th-ranked Louisville to overtime before falling to LSU.
• The Monarchs have struggled shooting the ball a bit at just 36.7 percent overall and 30.4 percent from distance.
• One player who has bucked that trend is East Carolina transfer Brandan Stith, who leads the team at 13.8 ppg while hitting 28-of-46 (.609) shots.
• Ahmed Caver is the other Monarch scoring in double figures at 10.8 ppg, but his best asset is his 22-9 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Stith is part of a strong rebounding effort with 7.8 caroms a night, but that is dwarfed by Denzell Taylor at 10.2, though he has only taken 15 shots even after 27 offensive boards.
• The shooting woes have extended to the foul line where the team has converted 56.8 percent. Virgina transfer B.J. Stith, younger brother of Brandan, is 9-for-9 at the stripe, however.
• Jeff Jones (Virginia '82) is in his fourth season at ODU, coming off a 25-win campaign last year and a Vegas 16 Tournament championship. He has a 73-41 record with the Monarchs, and is 430-328 in his 25th year having spent eight years at his alma mater and 13 more at American.

Typical Shooting Versus Longwood
Dartmouth shot 55.8 percent from the floor in an 86-80 loss at Longwood on Nov. 28, just the 12th time the Big Green have topped 55 percent in a game over the last 12 seasons. Three of those 12 games have come against the Lancers. Oddly enough, the only two losses among those 12 games have come against Longwood as well, the other being a 74-73 defeat two years ago in Farmville. Of the six games versus the Lancers, all in the last six seasons, Dartmouth has shot better than 50 percent five times.

Double Black Jack
Sophomores Evan Boudreaux and Guilien Smith led the Big Green with 21 points apiece in the 86-80 loss at Longwood, the first 20-point games by any Dartmouth player this season. It was a career high for Smith, whose previous best came two days earlier against Marist (15). For Boudreaux, it was his 11th 20-point game, and 28th in double figures, in 31 career contests.

Boudreaux Getting Board
With his nine rebounds at Longwood on Nov. 28, Evan Boudreaux led the Big Green in rebounding for the 16th consecutive game in which he has played. For his career, he has topped the team on the glass 25 times in 31 games and needs 10 more to reach 300. And his 9.0 rebounds per game leads the Ivy League after finishing third last year at 9.4.

Scoring Leaders
Not only is Boudreaux at the top of the rebounding charts, he is also third in the conference with 17.5 points per game. He isn't the only Big Green player near the top with Guilien Smith sitting sixth at 15.0 ppg as well.

Points Trending Up
Since opening the season with 61 points at 23rd-ranked Rhode Island, Dartmouth has put more points on the board each time out. That bodes well against Old Dominion after tallying 80 at Longwood on Monday.

Schedules