Old Dominion coach Mike Jones had been begging for his players to start better and to play with more urgency.

They did.

Behind Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year Robert Davis Jr.’s season-high 29 points, the Monarchs responded Thursday night by ending their four-game men’s basketball slide with a 70-66 victory at Coastal Carolina before 1,302 in Conway, South Carolina.

The junior was 11 for 18 and sank five 3-pointers, adding four rebounds and an assist.

“I give all the credit to Coach Jones and our staff,” Davis said on odusports.com. “We have changed how our practices have been this week to make sure that we get off to a great start, and it showed up. We were able to come out, play defense full-court from the jump, get a couple stops first, and then the buckets started to flow after that.”

KC Shaw finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Caelum Swanton-Rodger followed with 10 points, four rebounds and two steals.

ODU (5-12, 2-3 Sun Belt) hit 45.3% (29 of 64) from the field but just 38.5% (5 of 13) from the free-throw line.Jones said, “It wasn’t beautiful, but what we did do was we were able to be in a position to where we were getting so many stops that the efficiency on the offensive end didn’t kill us. We did a really good job on the defensive end.”

ODU led 28-24 at the half, saw Coastal (8-9, 1-4) pull to 30-29 but surged to a 49-38 advantage with 12:51 to go. Two 3-pointers by Davis gave the Monarchs their largest lead, 63-47, with 8:13 to go.

The Chanticleers came back to 68-62, but ODU held on. It was in marked contrast to the 76-74 loss at Chartway Arena that began the Monarchs’ four-game skid, one of several this season which have featured a big early deficit for ODU.

ODU next will travel to Harrisonburg for a 4 p.m. Saturday game at James Madison, hoping to complete a two-game sweep in the Royal Rivalry.

Monmouth 81, William & Mary 70: The Tribe (11-5, 2-2 Coastal Athletic Association) couldn’t keep up with the Hawks (8-8, 2-1), who hit a season-high 10 3-pointers in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

Senior Chase Lowe had 15 points and nine rebounds, leading W&M in both categories. Reese Miller added 11 points, three assists and two steals, while Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi tallied 13 points.

W&M led 18-13 before Monmouth took the lead for good by making seven consecutive shots in an 11-0 run.

Early in the second half, the Tribe pulled to 37-36 before Monmouth’s Jason Rivera-Torres, who scored 16 of his game-high 19 in the second half, answered with a 3-pointer.

Leading 66-60, the Hawks produced a 10-2 run to ensure the triumph.

W&M was 7 of 24 (29.2%) from 3-point range and 7 of 15 (46.7%) at the free-throw line. Monmouth shot 46.9% (30 of 64) from the floor and 40% (10 of 25) from 3-point range.

The Hawks’ Andrew Ball contributed 18 points, while Cornelius Robinson Jr. added 17 points and secured eight rebounds. Jack Collins added eight points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

Campbell 86, Hampton 72: Despite Michael Eley’s career-high 43 points and eight rebounds, the Pirates (8-9, 2-2 CAA) lost to the Camels (9-8, 3-1) before 1,298 in Buies Creek, North Carolina.

D.J. Smith scored 26, Jeremiah Johnson 18 and Cam Gregory 17 for Campbell.

A 13-0 run gave Campbell a 13-4 lead. Hampton committed 21 turnovers for the game and never closed the gap to single digits in the second half. But Eley tied for the most points in any game in HU’s Division I history and tied for the fifth-most in school history and the eighth-most in CAA history. He hit 13 of 21 field-goal tries and 14 of 15 free throws. Teammate Xzavier Long added eight points and nine rebounds.

Liberty 72, Louisiana Tech 56: Brett Decker Jr. had 15 points and six rebounds for the Flames (12-3, 4-0 Conference USA) in Ruston, Louisiana. JJ Harper scored 13 points and Colin Porter 11 for Liberty.

The Bulldogs (8-7, 1-3), in their last season in CUSA before going to the Sun Belt, were led by DJ Dudley’s 17 points.

No. 12 Michigan State 76, Northwestern 66: Carson Cooper had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Jeremy Fears Jr. scored all of his 15 points in the second half to help the Spartans (14-2, 4-1 Big Ten) come back for a home win despite Nick Martinelli’s 28 points for the Wildcats (8-7, 0-4).

Jaxon Kohler added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Spartans, who trailed by eight in the second half.

The Wildcats (8-7, 0-4) lost their lead because they left Kohler open on the 3-point line, and they couldn’t keep Michigan State off the boards or slow down Fears offensively.

No. 16 Illinois 81, Rutgers 55: Keaton Wagler scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds and Tomislav Ivisic had 14 points in Champaign to lead the Illini (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten) to their fourth straight victory.

Kaden Powers scored 12 and Harun Zrno 11 for the Scarlet Knights (8-8, 1-4).

Women

Virginia 61, Georgia Tech 59: Led by Tabitha Amanze’s 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks, the Cavaliers (13-3) won in Atlanta to extend their winning streak to seven and start 5-0 in ACC play for the first time since 2017-18.

Virginia combined to block 13 shots for the second consecutive game, led by Caitlin Weimar’s six in the first half. Weimar finished the game with eight points, six rebounds and six blocks.

Paris Clark had 14 points and three assists. Kymora Johnson netted 12 points, six rebounds and six assists.

The Yellow Jackets were led by Talayah Walker, who had 21 points and sank 11 of 12 free throws.

UVA never trailed after a 10-0 run provided a 23-15 margin.

Virginia Tech 77, Syracuse 57: Carleigh Wenzel was 4 for 4 from 3-point range to finish with 18 points for the Hokies (12-5, 2-3 ACC) against the host Orange (13-3, 3-2) before 2,318. She added six rebounds and five assists.

Samyha Suffren had 16 points for Tech, and Carys Baker and Mackenzie Nelson had 13 apiece. Kilah Freelon had 12 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

Syracuse’s Uche Izoje had 14 points and seven rebounds.

No. 2 Texas 97, Auburn 36: Senior Kyla Oldacre had a career-best 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Longhorns (18-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference). They’re off to their best start since 1985-86, when they were NCAA champions, finishing 34-0.

Texas has won 36 straight home games.

Harissoum Coulibaly led former Norfolk State coach Larry Vickers’ Auburn team (11-6, 0-3) with 11 points. The Tigers shot just 29% and were outrebounded 50-19.

No. 3 South Carolina 93, Arkansas 58: Joyce Edwards scored 22 points and led four South Carolina players in double figures in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Edwards, who entered third in the SEC in scoring, finished one point above her season average. She played just 25 minutes as coach Dawn Staley began going to her bench midway through the third quarter.

The Gamecocks (16-1, 3-0 SEC) raced to a 17-point lead in the first quarter on the Razorbacks (11-7, 0-3).

No. 18 Mississippi 74, No. 5 Oklahoma 69: Cotie McMahon scored 22 points in Norman, Oklahoma, as Ole Miss (15-3, 2-1 SEC) snapped the Sooners’ 13-game winning streak.

As the Ole Miss football team lost a national semifinal, the women’s basketball team claimed one of the biggest wins in school history. The Sooners (14-2, 2-1) ranked second nationally with 94.5 points per game before posting a season-low point total on Thursday, though Aaliyah Chavez scored 26 points and Raegan Beers added 15 points and 20 rebounds.

Alabama 64, No. 6 Kentucky 51: Jessica Timmons scored 24 points, Diana Collins added 16 and the Crimson Tide (16-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) earned its highest-ranked regular-season win in coach Kristy Curry’s tenure (2013-present).

Former Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks’ Wildcats (15-2, 2-1) opened the game in Tuscaloosa on an 11-2 run but were outscored 34-18 for the remainder of the first half. Tonie Morgan led Kentucky with 14 points.

No. 7 Vanderbilt 99, Missouri 68: Mikayla Blakes scored 20 points to lead five Vanderbilt players in double figures for the host Commodores (16-0, 3-0 SEC).

Aubrey Galvan added 19 points. Sacha Washington had 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Missouri (12-6, 0-3) and first-year coach Kellie Harper wrapped up a tough opening stretch to league play. The Tigers lost to No. 2 Texas at home, then to then-No. 11 Kentucky before coming to Nashville.

No. 8 Maryland 88, Rutgers 41: Yarden Garzon hit all six of her 3-point shots and scored 18 points as Maryland (16-1, 4-1 Big Ten) raced to an early lead and routed Rutgers (8-8, 0-5) in Piscataway, New Jersey. Addi Mack added 15 points for the Terrapins.

No. 9 Michigan 105, Penn State 65: Mila Holloway scored 18 points, Te’Yala Delfosse added 17 points, and Michigan (13-2, 4-1 Big Ten) never trailed in its ninth straight win. The host Nittany Lions (7-9, 0-5) were led by Gracie Merkle with 18 points.

https://www.dailypress.com/2026/01/09/odu-men-end-slide-start-well-in-triumph-at-coastal-carolina/