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GAME NOTES: The Georgia State Panthers welcome the Old Dominion Monarchs to the GSU Sports Arena tonight for a Colonial Athletic Association matchup.

Old Dominion enters the contest having won two straight and seven of its last nine overall. Most recently, the Monarchs notched a 73-67 victory at Missouri State in a BracketBusters matchup this past Saturday. Following this tilt, they'll wrap up the regular season at home against Drexel on Saturday night.

Georgia State has also gotten hot of late, winning two straight and five of its last six, with the lone loss coming in overtime against Delaware a couple of weekends ago. The Panthers are coming off Saturday's 82-71 triumph over Texas-San Antonio and will close out the home portion of their schedule tonight before traveling to William & Mary this weekend. The Panthers are 12-2 at GSU Sports Arena this season.

Old Dominion has dominated the head-to-head series, winning 14 of the 16 meetings all-time against the Panthers, including each of the last five. But the teams are fairly evenly matched this time around. ODU (18-11, 12-4 CAA) currently stands in fourth place in the CAA standings, two games behind pace- setters Drexel and George Mason, and two games ahead of fifth-place Georgia State (19-9, 10-6).

Monarchs senior leader Kent Bazemore poured in a career-high 28 points in Saturday's win at Missouri State, while teammate Trian Iliadis scored 14 off the bench behind a 4-of-7 effort from the perimeter. Bazemore shot 9-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-5 from three-point range, also adding seven rebounds to his stat line. The Monarchs' long-range shooting was simply too much for Missouri State to handle, as they knocked down 12-of-22 from three-point range. ODU committed just nine turnovers and shot 51 percent from the floor, marking the fifth occasion this season the team shot 50 percent or better. Once again, the main story was Bazemore, who was named CAA Player of the Week for his role in leading ODU to a pair of wins over UNCW and Missouri State. The senior guard averaged 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals in the two games while shooting 60.6 percent from the floor. He ranks 21st nationally and second in the CAA in steals (2.2), while ranking ninth in the conference in both scoring (14.4) and assists (3.1) as his all-around game has no doubt made the Monarchs a dangerous draw in the upcoming CAA Championship beginning March 2 in Richmond. Along with Bazemore, ODU will also lean on forward Chris Cooper, who is averaging a double-double with 10.6 points and 10.0 rebounds per contest.

The Panthers hang their hats on playing sound defense, as they lead the CAA in field-goal percentage defense (.386) and blocked shots (5.3), while ranking second in steals (9.5), and third in both scoring defense (59.3) and scoring margin (+8.5). The Panthers also pace the conference in assist-turnover ratio (1.1) and are second in turnover margin (+3.6). Jihad Ali is the top scorer, averaging 13.0 ppg to go along with his 5.9 rebounds. Devonta White is next in line with 12.2 ppg. Big man Eric Buckner is shooting a solid 61 percent from the floor while averaging 11.0 points and a team-best 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per tilt. His shot-blocking ability not only gives opponents something to think about when driving the lane, but it also sparks GSU's transition game. On element lacking from the Panthers' roster is a consistent long-range threat, as they are shooting just 31 percent from the perimeter as a team and do hot have anyone tallying two treys per game or better. But they knocked down 8-of-20 three-pointers in Saturday's victory while shooting a season-best 56.9 percent from the floor. White and Rashaad Richardson paced five players in double figures with 16 points apiece, while Buckner tallied 14 points, eight boards, four blocks and a couple of steals while shooting a near-perfect 7-of-8 from the floor.

This game pits two of the conference's hotter squads against one another. The Monarchs have dominated this series, although the Panthers are the more balanced squad and play better defense. Give a slight edge to Georgia State playing on its home floor.