Matt Fargo

James Madison vs. Old Dominion
Play: Old Dominion -6.5

One of the hottest college basketball teams takes the floor tonight and it is from somewhere other than the Sweet 16. Old Dominion is taking part in the College Insider Tournament and right now it is playing its best basketball of the season. The Monarchs have won 12 of their last 14 games and they are doing it with a group of players that were not expected to do much this season due to a lack of experience. Old Dominion’s depth has become important in the post-season as the Monarchs gave eight players extensive minutes in their opening round victory over The Citadel and the team’s high scorer, guard Keyon Carter, came off the bench. Backups accounted for 79 of the 200 minutes played in the game. The two opening victories have given Old Dominion another home game and this one has some added incentive. The Monarchs are 15-3 at home this season with one of those losses coming against a solid UAB team. Another loss came against these same Dukes back on January 7th. Old Dominion was able to avenge that loss by beating James Madison in Harrisonburg later in the month but there is still some revenge in order as the Monarchs want the payback on their home floor. The Dukes won both of their tournament games but both came against much inferior competition. After winning eight of 10 games at one point this season, they dropped eight of their final 13 games. Leading scorer Juwann James missed the last game against Liberty and while he has been upgraded to probable for this one, he isn’t close to 100 percent. He practiced the last two days and will attempt to play today, but head coach Matt Brady said his effectiveness will determine how many minutes he gets. In the Dukes win in the first meeting, they shot an incredible 66.7 percent from the floor and I can guarantee we will not see that type of performance again. In the second meeting, Andrey Semenov but he will not be around for this one. The trends favor James Madison as it has been solid on the road but there is a lot more incentive for the home team as Old Dominion does in fact get its payback tonight. 3* Old Dominion Monarchs