ODU men poised send Towson to record hoops defeat

The Towson Tigers have lost 34 consecutive basketball games. They don't discuss the streak much among themselves, because everyone else is happy to do it for them.

The New York Times and USA Today have done recent stories on Towson, which will set an NCAA Division I record for consecutive losses if it falls tonight at Old Dominion.

How did it come to this for the Tigers? Blame a perfect storm of factors. Former coach Pat Kennedy dropped his final 19 games before being fired after last season. The three leading scorers from last year departed the team with eligibility remaining. Towson was left with one returning letterman and played one of the tougher nonconference schedules in the Colonial Athletic Association.

New coach Pat Skerry has remained relentlessly optimistic and has reason to be. Ground has been broken on a new arena. A pair of Big East transfers - Jerrelle Benimon from Georgetown and Mike Burwell from South Florida - will become eligible next season. Skerry's 2012 recruiting class is considered one of the best in the nation for a mid-major.

Brighter days appear to be ahead. Meanwhile, barring a major upset - ODU has won 16 straight in the series - the Tigers will make some dubious history tonight.

Georgia State on a roll

If Towson is making news for all the wrong reasons, another CAA team has been getting attention for its surprising start. Georgia State, which hasn't won more than 12 games in a season since joining the conference in 2005, has won 11 straight.

In the past week, the Panthers have knocked off preseason favorite Drexel and 2011 Final Four team Virginia Commonwealth. Georgia State faces another conference heavyweight, George Mason, tonight in Fairfax, with first place on the line. The Panthers and Patriots are the only remaining teams unbeaten in CAA play.

Georgia State was picked to finish 11th after going 12-19 last year. New coach Ron Hunter inherited a roster that returned four starters, and was considered talented but disjointed.

The Panthers have won with defense, holding opponents to 33.5 percent shooting during the streak.

"As I have said, they bought into what we are trying to do at Georgia State, and it's leading to special things," Hunter said on the school's website.

Surgery for Taylor

ODU coach Blaine Taylor has been playing hurt the past few games. An MRI has revealed that he'll need surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right knee, which he injured at halftime of the Missouri game Dec. 30.

Taylor rose from the bench to jog with his team to the locker room, as he often does, and felt a "pop" in the knee. He's looking at having surgery near the end of the month.

ODU hosts William and Mary on Jan. 28 and James Madison on Feb. 1.

"I'm not going to miss a game," he said.