South Padre, Day 2

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TEXAS

Early foul trouble. Little bench production. Turnovers.

Those were the factors coach Blaine Taylor pointed to after ODU's 66-61 loss to Missouri here Friday night, a defeat that dropped the Monarchs to 4-1 heading into Saturday night's game with Mississippi State.

ODU knew what to expect: relentless pressure from the Tigers, who pressed full-court after made baskets and trapped in their half-court defense.

Dealing with the pressure was another thing entirely. ODU committed 17 first-half turnovers and fell down 32-18 at the break. They committed just 7 in the second half, but weren't able to come all the way back.

The turnover pain was spread around. Ben Finney had five, while Kent Bazemore and Frank Hassell had four each. Gerald Lee had three.

ODU shot 61 percent in the second half and 45 percent for the game, while holding Missouri to 37 percent. The Monarchs got just five points off the bench, however.

Finney and Lee each picked up two fouls before the 10 minute mark of the second half. Reserve Keyon Carter picked up his third with five minutes to go in the half.

The shooting of Marsharee Neely (20 points, 4 of 7 from 3-point range) kept ODU in it early. Defense, and the inside scoring of Lee and Frank Hassell brought the Monarchs back late.

But Missouri proved to be too deep. Zaire Taylor's 3-pointer with 1:51 left was the dagger, putting the Tigers up 11.

Taylor didn't think the Monarchs would emerge unscathed from this string of non-conference games. Now, the question is, "What do we take from this? What does it mean the next time we play a good team?" he said.

ODU will play one tonight, in defending SEC tournament champ Mississippi State. The Bulldogs (3-2) are led by one of the nation's top shot blockers, in senior forward Jarvis Varnado.

Mississippi State led Richmond by five with 2:07 left Friday night but failed to score from that point on and fell 63-62.

Varnado was saddled with foul trouble, and look for ODU to go at him today.

ODU is 2-2 all-time vs. the Bulldogs, but the teams haven't met since 1998.

-- Ed Miller

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