GAME NOTES: A pair of Conference USA squads hit the hardwood early on Thursday, as the Old Dominion Monarchs host the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at the Constant Center.

The Monarchs are a perfect 13-0 at home this season and have won 17 in a row in their own building, second only to Louisiana Tech in the conference. Unfortunately, when it comes to playing on the road the Monarchs are not nearly as proficient, losing five straight at C-USA foes. The most recent of those setbacks took place on Valentine's Day as the team bowed to UTEP at the Don Haskins Center, 62-47.

ODU has now lost back-to-back contests for the second time in less than a month, after losing a total of only two games through the first 17 bouts.

Over on the other side, the Golden Eagles have a grand total of seven wins, two of those coming in 13 league outings, which means USM is next-to-last in the standings ahead of only Florida Atlantic (1-11). Coincidentally, it was FAU that the Golden Eagles last played over the weekend, pulling out a 62-54 win at home in order to snap a five-game slide.

As far as the all-time series is concerned, ODU has won six of the previous seven encounters with the Golden Eagles, although USM managed to come out on top in this building last season by a score of 75-60.

Norville Carey registered a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds versus FAU, adding a pair of blocked shots, as USM made it back into the win column. Leading all scorers was Chip Armelin with 19 points, while Matt Bingaya accounted for 15, to go along with five rebounds, three assists and three steals in order to offset his four turnovers. Defensively, the Golden Eagles held the visitors to just 37.7 percent shooting from the floor and 6-of-20 beyond the arc.

When it comes to conference play, Southern Miss is struggling to breach the 60-point barrier more often than not, as it averages 60.2 ppg currently. Armelin checks in with 19.2 ppg, despite hitting on only 62.3 percent of his attempts at the free-throw line. Bingaya is good for another 13.8 ppg and 5.8 rpg, followed by Carey and his 13.4 ppg and team-best 6.3 rpg, but still the team is being beaten on the glass by 2.4 rpg.

In one of the weakest offensive performances of the campaign, ODU knocked down a total of 16 field goals on 52 attempts, a mere 30.8 percent accuracy. But even when the team was not being defended by UTEP players, the Monarchs were able to convert just 60 percent at the free-throw line. Jonathan Arledge tallied a game-high 17 points and cleared seven rebounds, but he converted only 3-of-8 at the charity stripe, followed by Aaron Bacote with 11 points in the losing cause.

Trey Freeman, who made only 3-of-9 shots from the floor and finished with six points in the loss to the Miners, is still the leading scorer for the Monarchs in conference play, posting 15.3 ppg. Bacote and Arledge contribute 12.2 and 11.4 ppg, respectively, as the team generates 63.5 ppg while connecting on just 64.4 percent at the charity stripe. Luckily, the defense has locked down on opponents for the most part, limiting them to only 61.1 ppg.

Despite being easily handled by UTEP the last time out, the talent on the side of ODU is still far superior to those representing USM this season, so expect the hosts to continue their dominance at home this week.