THE GAME
North Carolina Central University begins the month of December with two road games before the annual exam break as the Eagles enter the week winners of five-in-a-row. The maroon and gray embark on the tidewater area of Virginia for the first of three trips on the year to battle the Monarchs of Old Dominion University on Tuesday evening from the Ted Contstant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va.
THE SERIES
This will be the second meeting between NCCU and ODU with the Monarchs taking the lone contest in the series back on Dec. 14, 2008, 79-64. That contest took place during the second season of the transition to Division I. Old Dominion is 40-8 against current members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, while NCCU is 0-11 against members of Conference USA.
NCCU SPORTS NETWORK
Tune in to the Denny's of Durham Pregame Show at 6:45 p.m. as play-by-play voice Chris Hooks will call the action live from the Ted Constant Convocation Center. Fans can also send a tweet to @NCCUAthletics using the hashtag #NCCUMBB or send an e-mail to NCCUSN@NCCU.edu to interact with Hooks during the broadcast.
OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY "MONARCHS"
Old Dominion enters Tuesday's contest 4-3 after dropping its last two games in the 2013 Cancun Challenge against both West Virginia (78-60) and Saint Louis (62-52). Sophomore guard Aaron Bacote earned a spot on the all-tournament team after his 20-point performance against the Mountaineers last Tuesday, and 15 points in the loss to the Billikens on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Old Dominion is in its first season since moving into Conference USA and is eligible for championships after spending much of its history in the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association). The Monarchs are led by first-year head coach Jeff Jones who made a name for himself as the University of Virginia's all-time assist leader with 598 helpers and spent eight seasons as the head coach for the Cavaliers that included an Elite Eight appearance in the 1994-95 season included in with six other postseason apperances. After three years off, Jones resurfaced at American University where he became the winningest coach in school history racking up a 212-182 (55.5 percent) record that also included three postseason appearances that included a back-to-back run through the 2007-2009 campaigns where the Eagles won 45 games in two years. Jones was the first person to win the NIT Championship as a player and as a coach when his Wahoos took the crown in the 1991-92 season. During his 21 years as a head coach Jones has compiled a 353-289 record. The Monarch program has made 24 combined postseason appearances that includes 11 trips to the NCAA Tournament, 10 NIT appearances, two CITs (CollegeInsider.com Tournament) in 2009, and 2012, along with one CBI (College Basketball Insider Tournament) in 2008. The 2013-14 version of the Monarchs have three student-athletes that averaged double figures led by Bacote's 20.4 points per game, which is third-best in Conference USA. Shooting guard Dimitri Batten is second on the squad at 11.3 points per game, while 6-6 foward Richard Ross contributes 10.1 points per contest while ripping down 7.4 boards a game (Tied for 12th in C-USA). Bacote is eighth in the league dishing out 4.14 helpers per game to lead the Monarchs. As a team, ODU is 13th in the league in scoring offense averaging 68.7 points a game, while sitting 16th in the conference shooting 57.3 percent from the foul line as a team. The Monarchs are third in C-USA with 32 blocked shots in seven games averaging 4.57 per contest.
UP NEXT
Four days after the contest at ODU, the maroon and gray will head to Indianapolis, Ind., to take on the Jaguars of IUPUI on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 2:00 p.m. The Eagles are 1-2 all-time against current members of The Summit League, but these two teams have never faced one another. This will be the final contest prior to the annual break for exams. NCCU's next ballgame will take place 11 days later against the Eagles of Winthrop University.
REGGIE GROVES SETS NEWS SCHOOL RECORD FROM THREE
Redshirt senior Reggie Groves (Raleigh, N.C.) broke current head coach LeVelle Moton's previous school record of nine three-pointers as he shot a ridiculous 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) from-the-outside in the blowout victory for NCCU over Barber-Scotia. The 16 three-pointers as a team are the most since the 2001-02 season.
NCCU HITS 16 THREE-POINTERS AGAINST MIGHTY SABERS
In the 101-46 victory over Barber-Scotia, the Eagles hit 16-of-37 (43.2 percent) from behind-the-arc setting a new NCCU Division I record. Here's a list of the top team performances from deep since the 2001-02 season.
16- vs. Barber-Scotia (11/26/13, 16-37)
14- vs. Univ. of District of Columbia (11/25/03, 14-32)
13- at Elizabeth City State (2/12/02, 13-25)
13- vs. Fayetteville State (2/27/03, 13-31)
13- at Johnson C. Smith (2/5/04, 13-28)
13- at Arkansas (12/10/08, 13-28)
12- at NC A&T (1/24/11, 12-27)
12- vs. NC A&T (2/21/11, 12-24)
12- vs. Va. Univ. of Lynchburg (1/18/13, 12-23)
NCCU MAKES FIRST APPEARANCE IN MID-MAJOR TOP 25
The Eagles 5-1 start has caught the attention of many around the nation as NCCU made its first appearance in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 at No. 24 on Nov. 25. The maroon and gray join the likes of Wichita State, Gonzaga, Belmont, Indiana State, and Harvard who reside in the top five.
EAGLES OFF TO A SOLID START
Six games into the 2013-14 season, NCCU sits at 5-1, something that hasn't happened a ton since making the transition to the Division I Level. Not since the 2004-05 season have the Eagles started this strong. The 101-46 win against BSC saw the maroon and gray equal that start. In head coach LeVelle Moton's final season as a student-athlete, NCCU went 17-1 through the first 18 games, finishing the season 20-7, falling in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs.
