SAN MARCOS, Texas – Old Dominion men’s basketball could not overcome another slow start as the Monarchs dropped their Sun Belt road game at Texas State, 81-64 on Saturday afternoon at Strahan Arena.

KC Shaw led ODU with a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double, adding one assist, one steal, and one block to his final stats line. Jordan Battle added 16 points, 12 of them in the first half, while knocking down five three-pointers. Jared Turner contributed seven points with three boards, two assists, and two blocks.

The Monarchs (7-16, 4-7 Sun Belt) shot 32.8% (20-for-61) from the field, including 22.2% (6-for-27) from beyond the arc, and 81.8% (18-for-22) at the free-throw line.

Texas State’s DJ Hall opened the scoring with back-to-back threes before Battle answered with one of his own. Another triple by the Norfolk native narrowed the gap, 10-6 at the 17:17 mark, but the Bobcats (13-11, 6-6) scored seven unanswered points for a 17-6 lead. Zacch Wiggins halted the run with a layup, Turner followed with a three-pointer, and Donovan Raymond went 2-for-2 at the free-throw line to get the Monarchs back to within four, 17-13 with 11:44 left in the opening half.

An LJ Thomas floater in the paint and a steal and layup by Raymond trimmed the Bobcat lead to 21-17 with 9:54 on the clock, but TXST took off again with a 10-0 push. Shaw made a couple of layups and Battle hit a pair of threes in the final two minutes as ODU went into the locker room trailing, 42-33.

Texas State put together a 13-0 run early in the second half, extending their lead to 20, 55-35 at the 15:44 mark. Battle’s fifth three-pointer of the day and a made basket by Shaw cut the deficit to 13, 65-52 with 6:48 left. Down the stretch, TXST’s Robert Fields and Hall combined for a 7-0 run as the Bobcats went back up by 20, 76-56 at the 2:54 mark. Shaw scored another six points and Turner added a tip-in to whittle the Bobcat lead down to 15, 79-64 with one minute left. Hall then rounded out the scoring with a couple of free throws with 33 seconds remaining.

Up Next

The Monarchs will open a five-game homestand next Wednesday, Feb. 4 when they host the ULM Warhawks for a 7 p.m. game at Chartway Arena.