Stopping the Bleeding vs Old Dominion

College of Charleston (5-4, 1-0)

Old Dominion University (1-9, 0-1)

TD Arena

Tipoff at 7:30 on ESPN3

Aside from a win over SoCon rival Elon on the first of the month, December has not been kind to the Cougars so far. In two games since then it has been Opponents: 145, CofC: 87. Both losses to Louisville and Anderson (teams as far opposite one another on the basketball spectrum as you can get) have startled the fan base and I hope the coaching staff. The next test is an ODU team that has also been struggling as of late.

I mentioned back in September how this was a game a lot of us Cougar fans were hoping for on the schedule. Old Dominion, in their last year in the CAA, is moving to Conference USA next season and ineligible to play in their conference tournament this year. That is likely saving them some embarrassment. The team went 22-14 last year but they graduated three impact seniors and are currently playing with a very young team. Still, the Monarchs could not have predicted that they would be sitting where they are now. Their only victory this season was over Morgan State and they have had close losses to Murray State, VMI and most recently UCF. 

ODU is a team not so different from College of Charleston. Like the Cougs the Monarchs rebound the ball well and have some talented players in the frontcourt. Both teams do however struggle offensively. For the Monarch's its the all-underclassmen three-guard lineup and their inability to really grasp the concepts of Coach Blaine Taylor's offense. For CofC the real issue has been turnovers <viciously beating dead horse>

The biggest question for the home team is whether or not we'll have the services of Andrew Lawrence. My educated guess, based on what was said about his ankle injury and his listing as a starter for the Anderson game, is that he was just sitting last week for precautionary reasons. I think if it had not been a DII opponent we probably would have seen Andrew play. He is 90% of our offense right now (9% being Adjehi Baru and 1% being Matt Sundberg) and the team/head coach really need a win right now. 

If the Cougars' back was against the wall last week; they've now been demolished through the drywall and into the kitchen following the loss to Anderson. Despite ODU's record they're one of the best teams the Cougars will face the rest of the season. A win here would do a lot to quell the torch and pitchfork purchases at the West Ashley Home Depot.