GAME NOTES: Conference USA foes get together in Virginia on Saturday night, as the Old Dominion Monarchs entertain the North Texas Mean Green at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.

Old Dominion, which opened the 2014-15 campaign with 13 wins in the first 14 outings, has but two defeats on the schedule, the latest coming against Western Kentucky on the road a week ago, 72-65. On Thursday night, the team bounced back from that setback with a 63-53 triumph over the Rice Owls at home in order to move to 3-1 in conference play.

The Mean Green also had a positive start to the campaign with four wins in five tries, but the competition during that stretch was far from premiere. More recently the team has suffered five defeats in six games, the lone victory being a 66-63 decision against Rice last weekend.

Like the Monarchs, UNT was also in action two nights ago, but in that case the Mean Green came up short in a 73-57 final versus Charlotte on the road, dropping the program to 1-3 in league action.

Old Dominion won the first and only other meeting between these two programs, a 72-62 triumph in Denton last season.

The Mean Green converted a total of just nine field goals in the first half against Charlotte a few nights back, yet that was still enough to put the team on top by four at the break. However, shooting only 29.4 percent from the field, including 2-of-12 behind the 3-point line in the final 20 minutes was too much to overcome as UNT lost yet again in conference play on Thursday.

Four players carried most of the load for the Mean Green as JOrdan Williams tallied a team-best 15 points, but shot only 6-of-19 from the floor, including 1-of-7 behind the 3-point line. Jeremy Combs registered a double-double consisting of 11 points, and 10 rebounds, adding five steals, while Maurice Aniefiok and Colin Voss chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.

As one of two players to have started every game for North Texas, Williams is the leading scorer with 14.9 ppg, but he is also the only player putting up double figures heading into the weekend. One of the leading rebounders with 5.1 per contest, Williams paces the program with 38 assists and 26 steals, which somewhat makes up for his mere 27.2 percent shooting behind the 3-point line. Unfortunately, the team as a whole is converting just 29.1 percent on the perimeter, limiting the group to 64.4 ppg.

Aaron Bacote scored a game-high 25 points as Old Dominion defeated the Owls by double figures in Conference USA play at the Ted Constant Convocation Center two nights ago. Bacote made all four of his shots from 3-point range and 8- of-10 from the floor overall for the Monarchs. Jonathan Arledge registered a double-double for the hosts with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. The Monarchs overcame 16 turnovers by registering a 38-23 edge on the glass and outscoring Rice at the charity stripe, 17-3.

Bacote, who scored a combined 11 points in the two games leading up to the meeting with Rice, is now up to 10.0 ppg on the season, shooting 84.5 percent at the free-throw line. Trey Freeman is responsible for 15.7 ppg, also leading the way in the passing department with 54 assists as he shows the same shooting percentage from the field (.421) as Bacote. Defensively, ODU is one of the toughest opponents in the nation, permitting only 55.8 ppg.

After a historical start to the season, the Monarchs now need to get back on track as the league schedule heats up and catching UNT right now might be the best medicine for ODU.