ODU Set To Welcome Hoyas
NORFOLK, Va. -- Welcome to the Ted Constant Convocation Center where the winningest college basketball team in Virginia over the past three seasons, the Old Dominion Monarchs, is set to play host to Georgetown University.
Old Dominion enters tonight's contest 3-3, having lost their last two contests but both to ranked opponents. The Monarchs fell last Friday to No. 1 North Carolina and then lost the next day to No. 6 Louisville. The Hoyas meanwhile enter the evening 3-0, with their most impressive victory to date a 74-52 win over an unranked Michigan team.
The real story, however, is not what has happened so far this season but what went down last November. Old Dominion stormed into Georgetown's on-campus McDonough Gymnasium, where the Hoyas had not lost in 24 years (though they only play their at most a handful of times a season), and upset the No. 8 squad in the nation, 75-62. The Hoyas immediately dropped to No. 14 in the polls, and after two easy wins, lost two more early-season matchups against Oregon and Duke. Needless to say, they recovered just fine and went to their first final four since 1985.
Old Dominion, meanwhile, proceeded to lose 10 days later to Marist. It did make the NCAA tournament, but fell in the first round to Butler.
In that Nov. 19 contest, the Monarchs were led by Valdas Vasylius, who poured in 16 points but has since moved on to playing in Poland. Arnaud Dahi added 15 points, but he too has since graduated. Gerald Lee, a sophomore who leads ODU in scoring this season at 12.2 points per contest, scored two points off the bench. Roy Hibbert paced the Hoyas with 17 points, while Jeff Green, now a Seattle SuperSonic, was held to a paltry two points.
The Constant Center, 20 minutes before tip, is still relatively empty, but the ODU student section is packed. When Georgetown took the court a few moments ago, the students showered the Hoyas with a ringing "overrated" cheer. The Georgetown fans in attendance likely recall the small Monarchs' section in McDonough last fall employing a similar chant in the waning minutes of last year's affair.
Be back with more soon.
