NORFOLK, Va. – Tylan Pope scored a game-high 23 points Wednesday night in the Chartway Arena but it would be Old Dominion coming out on top 75-64 over Texas State. For Pope, it was his seventh game of at least 20 points this season.
 
"That's a tough game. I thought we had a pretty good game plan and did what we needed to do from an initial defensive effort," said head coach Terrence Johnson. "We lost this game in the trenches as we cannot win games where we give up 23 offensive rebounds. We needed to a little big tougher at that aspect of the game and get back to the drawing board to figure out a way to get a split on this trip."
 
Pope finished the game 10-of-13 from the field and 3-of-4 at the free throw line. The redshirt senior also grabbed five rebounds and blocked a shot.
 
Joshua O'Garro finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. He made 6-of-9 shots including making both of his three-point attempts.
 
Also in double-figures was Kaden Gumbs with 13 after going 6-for-8 shooting. The San Marcos native handed out five assists and recorded one steal in 36 minutes of action.
 
Despite outshooting the Monarchs 49.1% to 38.5%, the hosts were 19-of-23 (82.6%) at the free throw line compared to TXST's nine attempts. ODU also had a 23-8 advantage on the offensive glass that led to 16 of its points.
 
ODU scored the first four points of the game just 44 seconds into the contest. TXST responded with a 12-1 run over the next 6:46 minutes to go up by seven. The last seven points of the scoring stretch came at the hands of Pope.
 
The Bobcats kept the lead until the 4:13 mark on a Robert Davis, Jr. jumper that gave the hosts a 31-29 advantage. The teams traded baskets but back-to-back three-pointers by Davis put the Monarchs up for the rest of the half.
 
Coming out of halftime, ODU netted nine of the first 11 points to extend its advantage to 10 that forced a TXST timeout. The Bobcats chipped away and were able to get within 51-49 after Pope knocked down a short jumper at the 8:36 mark.
 
A Coleton Benson three-pointer with 6:48 remaining again gave cut the deficit to two. However, the Monarchs scored six straight in less than a minute to extend their advantage to 62-54. The closest Texas State was able to get the rest of the game was within five after O'Garro knocked down a trey from the left wing with 1:40 to play.
 
Next for the Bobcats is a trip to Central Michigan on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT. The contest is part of the MAC-SBC Challenge
 
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