NORFOLK, Va. — NORFOLK, Va. (WTKR) — Old Dominion held off a first half rally by Arkansas State. The Monarchs cut a double digit deficit completely down to nothing with 17 minutes left to play.
The silver and blue, however, couldn't withstand a finishing flurry from the Sun Belt's preseason favorite.
A 20-6 run by the Red Wolves ultimately broke the game open, handing ODU a 78-59 loss in its conference home opener on Thursday night.
"There's just so many things that I know we can be better at and I wish we were better at them tonight," said head coach Mike Jones. "Especially against a team you only get one shot at in the regular season."
The game started in the Monarchs' favor, hold Arkansas State scoreless for more than six minutes but they couldn't fully capitalize on it. They paid for it, surrendering a 19-2 run to the visitors, falling behind 19-8 and trailing by as much as 14.
ODU found its footing to close the half out, led by freshman Jaden Johnson. The point guard scored 12 points in the first half, including a run of 10 points in the final five minutes of the game, as part of a 19-8 run to close the gap down to 32-29 going into the locker rooms.
"Just trying to bring energy, just do all I could to keep my guys into it," Johnson said. He finished the game scoring 18. "It led to a couple of buckets, but really just bringing energy and being sure my guys know that we're still in it."
"I’m proud of him," Jones said. "There are way more good things about Jaden Johnson than things that are not good."
ODU kept up the swing of energy it had built up to close out the first half coming out of the break. Robert Davis Jr. was fouled on a three-pointer and sank all three foul shots to get the game tied up at 34-34 with 17:07 left to play.
That's when Arkansas State put its foot on the gas.
"We tie the game and then the next thing you know, it's 41-34 and they hit a three to put them up seven," Jones said. "And the momentum that we had created, we lost."
That was the beginning of the 20-6 run that built the lead up for the Red Wolves, who were led by Terrance Ford Jr. with 21 points in the game.
Sean Durugordon matched that performance at 21 points for the Monarchs, along with Johnson's 18, but offense was hard to come by for ODU. The team shot a shade over 26 percent from the floor and made just four of their 24 three-point attempts.
"We picked the wrong night against the wrong team to not shoot the ball well," Jones said. "We played poorly in all facets of the game. We didn't get to the rim. We didn't get to the free throw line. That's not who we are. We're a better team than that."
"I definitely feel like we got great looks, they just weren't falling," Johnson said. "I feel like the looks we were getting were good looks, very capable of making those shots. I feel like we will make those shots continuing on through the season."
The loss sends ODU to 5-9 on the season and 1-1 in conference play. The Sun Belt season creates a chance to get the loss out of their minds with Southern Miss coming to Chartway Arena on Saturday night at 7:00 PM.
"We have to turn the page and quickly," Jones said. "If you didn't make your free throws tonight, I expect to see you in the gym tomorrow morning shooting free throws. We need to put this one behind us."
