NORFOLK — One of the few teams needing a win more than Old Dominion showed up Wednesday at Chartway Arena.
In strikingly embarrassing fashion, the Monarchs did not.
Krystian Lewis scored 28 points and Louisiana Monroe, on paper one of the worst teams in the country, never trailed in a stunning 85-79 Sun Belt Conference victory over hapless and increasingly hopeless ODU.
The win snapped a 13-game losing streak for the Warhawks (4-20, 1-11 Sun Belt), who entered the game with a NET ranking of 359 out of 365 teams. ODU checked in at 251.
The Monarchs (7-17, 4-8), losers of two straight, have not won a home game in three tries in 2026.
Falling to the league’s last-place team left second-year ODU coach Mike Jones, whose team faces Ohio at home this weekend, grasping for words and reasons.
“These guys, they practice,” Jones said before a pensive pause. “It’s frustrating. It’s frustrating. I mean, what am I supposed to say here? We’ve just got to keep working, grinding, fighting. Try to win a game on Saturday. Get back into Sun Belt Conference play. Man, oh, man.”
Jordan Battle scored 23 points for the Monarchs, who shot 42% from the field, made 8 of 27 from 3-point range and converted 19 of 29 free throws.
ULM, with no height advantage, shot 44% and, using hustle and muscle, won the rebounding battle 45-32.
“They just wanted the ball more than we did,” Jones said. “And that’s very disappointing for any coach to have to acknowledge. The other team played harder than yours.”
ODU pulled to within 79-76 with 33 seconds left, but the Warhawks made all six of their free throw tries down the stretch to close it out.
An untimely turnover with 26 seconds left — one of 10 in the game — sealed the Monarchs’ doom.
Jones, for the second time this season after a loss, did not make his players available to the media.
Lavell Brodnex and MJ Russell both scored 21 points for ULM, which had last won on Dec. 9 despite some near-misses.
“We’ve been pretty competitive, and we’ve been close against some good teams,” Warhawks coach Phil Cunningham said. “So certainly a mix of happiness and relief. Maybe more of relief than happiness.”
ODU’s last home win came in the form of a 77-68 triumph over rival James Madison on Dec. 17, the same day the school’s football team beat South Florida in the Cure Bowl in Orlando. The hoops team is 0-5 in Chartway since.
Wednesday’s game was the first of five straight at home.
Jones, a former ODU star guard, has seen his team turn in baffling performances in both directions, playing near-complete games against better teams and changing personalities against others.
Old Dominion Monarchs guard LJ Thomas (6) is fouled while shooting the ball by ULM Warhawks guard Lavell Brodnex (4) during the second half at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va., on Feb, 4, 2026. (Peter Casey / The Virginian-Pilot)
Asked whether he might shake up his lineup, Jones was realistic.
“It’s February, man,” he said. “Trying new things? I don’t know. We’ve just got to do what we do. We’ve shown when we are connected and are fighting and pulling in the same direction, … we can beat anybody. But we’ve shown that if we’re not and we don’t, then we can lose to anybody. Honestly, the job at this point is just getting us to be the former, not the latter. We’ve got to keep fighting. It’s just a hell of a way to start off a homestand that we’ve been so much looking forward to.”
ULM’s resume includes wins over Arkansas Baptist, Mississippi Valley State and Rust College. (Yes, Rust College. It’s an NAIA school in Mississippi.)
The 13-game skid included six single-digit losses, as well as a 115-60 loss at Sun Belt member Marshall.
Only three teams — led by the aforementioned Mississippi Valley State, at 20 — entered the day with longer active losing streaks.
On Wednesday, ULM took a 34-26 lead into halftime after weathering an 8-1 spurt by the Monarchs midway through. The lead at the break would’ve been bigger if not for Jared Turner’s 3 from the right wing as the horn sounded.
Turner clapped his hands loudly as the shot went through, evidence of the frustration brought on by the team’s 29% shooting in the half. It was ODU’s second make from 3-point range in 13 tries.
Cunningham, a former assistant to Lefty Driesell at JMU and Georgia State, pointed out that he has one of the nation’s youngest rosters in terms of Division I experience.
Still, it’s been a trying season.
“It’s just a good league night in and night out, and it’s just been hard to get wins,” Cunningham said. “So it’s certainly been frustrating, but they’ve been terrific. They’ve never wavered in their preparation and their mindset and their spirits. So they deserved to get one against a really good team.”
David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com.
https://www.dailypress.com/2026/02/04/odu-falls-again-at-home-in-stunning-loss-to-last-place-ulm/
