GAME NOTES: Having secured one of four No. 1 seeds in the 2015 NIT, the Old Dominion Monarchs play host to the Buccaneers of Charleston Southern in a first-round matchup at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on Wednesday night.

The winner advances to face either Illinois State or Green Bay in the second round.

Charleston Southern is the No. 8 seed in the region, earning its place among the field of 32 as reward for winning its second Big South Conference regular- season championship in the last three years. The Buccaneers went 19-11 overall and 13-5 in conference, and they are led by Big South Coach of the Year Barclay Radenbaugh. CSU, which enjoyed the winningest regular season in program history, is bidding for its first national postseason victory and its first 20-win campaign since 1986-87. The school's only other appearance in the NIT was in 2013, where it bowed to Southern Miss in the opening round.

Old Dominion has had a stellar season as well, logging a 24-7 overall mark, which included a 13-5 mark in Conference USA play. The Monarchs had won six straight before falling to Middle Tennessee last week in the C-USA Tournament, and they are looking to get closer to the .500 mark in the NIT as they come in sporting a record of 8-10 all-time. Their last appearance in 2006 saw then reach the semifinals in New York City where they lost to Michigan. ODU head coach Jeff Jones has 399 career victories (42-25 at ODU), and his team has won its last 21 home games, including all 17 this season.

ODU owns a 7-1 advantage in the all-time series with Charleston Southern

In addition to Radenbaugh, Charleston Southern also has the Big South Player of the Year on the roster in Saah Nimley (21.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.1 apg), who is one of the more potent scorers in the country while also serving his team in other capacities as well. He gets help from Arlon Harper (13.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and Will Saunders (13.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg), the team as a whole producing 74.0 ppg while allowing 68.8 ppg. The Buccaneers are +3.8 in rebounding margin, and they goad the opposition into more than 13 turnovers per outing.

Old Dominion relies more on its defensive prowess than its ability to light up the scoreboard, as the team allows only 56.7 ppg behind typical shooting outputs of .401 overall and .310 from 3-point range. The Monarchs are on the plus-side of the ledger in both rebounding (+5.3) and turnovers (+2.2), and they feature a pair of double-digit scorers in Trey Freeman (17.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.4 apg) and Aaron Bacote (10.5 ppg). Richard Ross (8.3 ppg, .576 FG percentage) is a force in the middle, having blocked 50 shots while coming up with 5.6 rpg.

If they can keep Nimley somewhat under wraps, which is their forte, the Monarchs should be able to keep the good times at home rolling.