The Old Dominion Monarchs (21-12) and Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (18-15) meet in the fourth round of the CUSA tournament at Legacy Arena. Action begins at 4:00 pm ET on Friday, Mar. 11 and can be seen on CCS.
The Monarchs come into this game hoping to repeat their last performance, topping Louisiana Tech 68-52 in the 3. Trey Freeman was the game’s leading scorer with 25 points on 10-for-26 shooting. The Hilltoppers, meanwhile, are coming off an 88-77 win against UAB in the 3. Fredrick Edmond led the team in scoring by registering 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting.
The Monarchs may have trouble getting to the line in this one. They’re 315th in the nation in FTA rate (31.2), while Western Kentucky is among the nation’s least foul-prone squads (yielding a FTA rate of just 28.9, 20th in the country). Moreover, the Hilltoppers are among the nation’s elite on the offensive backboards, ranking 20th in OR% at 35.1%. But the Monarchs rank 30th at corralling defensive rebounds with a DR% of 72.1%.
The Monarchs have emerged victorious in both games against the Hilltoppers this year, including a 68-52 win the last time these two teams met. Edmond had a stellar game with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Notes
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers have a defensive rating of 108.3 (ranked 99th), while the Old Dominion Monarchs have an offensive rating of 108.8 (ranked 107th).
With 62.8 possessions and 1.088 points per possession, the Old Dominion Monarchs perform worse on both metrics than the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Western Kentucky averages 69.5 possessions and 1.110 points per possession.
Western Kentucky has an average effective field goal percentage of 52.7%. Old Dominion is an abysmal 1-8 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
Old Dominion attempts an average of 13.0 three pointers per game and Western Kentucky attempts 18.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Old Dominion Monarchs have a 3-2 record while the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers have an 8-7 record.
Old Dominion and Western Kentucky are tied at 85th with 4.2 blocks per game.
Old Dominion is one of the best teams in the country when it comes to offensive rebounds, ranking 22nd. Western Kentucky ranks 61st in defensive rebounds.
Western Kentucky makes an average of 4.5 steals per game. Old Dominion has a winning 16-6 record when it allows at least 4 steals.
