Back to wreak havoc on your bracket, the Monarchs are riding a 9 game winning streak into the Dance. ODU finished the season at 27-6 with wins over Xavier and Clemson on their resume and a 3 point loss to Georgetown. With a rock solid RPI of 23, Old Dominion won't be a first round cake walk.
KenPom has them 48th overall (69th in AdjO and 49th in AdjD). But make no mistake, ODU's calling card is their defense. They're 4th overall in scoring d and 46th in FG% defense. They're also 3rd in fouls per game. They'll grind you. They can effectively board as well. On offense, they get to 45% of their misses which is best in the land and on defense, opponents can only get 27.5% of their misses, good for 17th. You can shoot the 3 against them, 297th in 3pt PG% defense but they make up for it with limiting free throws and holding you well under the national average from the line in.
Offensively, eh, they board better than anyone so if they can match up with a team that struggles with defensive rebounding, that'll be a huge advantage for them. They are weak at the line, as their 2nd and 3rd most prolific foul shooters shoot 60 and 67% respectively.
The star player is Senior F, Frank Hassell who scores 15 ppg and gets 10 boards per. He's a horse in the paint. Kent Bazemore is the other forward. He shoots 51% from the field and gets 12 and 5 per.
ODU beat Notre Dame in a dogfight last year 51-50 and one suspects, it would take a game like that this year to get another win. They were in it until the end against Baylor, losing 76-68 after Baylor finished the game on a 8-1 run. No doubt, they won't be intimidated by March and shouldn't surprise anyone if they win a game.
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