Stifling defense by the Cavs helped restrict the Panthers to only 41 points on a 28.8 shooting percentage as the Cavaliers take their first conference win of the season. Walsh, meanwhile, put up 65 as three players reached double digits. Despite only shooting 30.8% from three, Walsh was able to handle the Panthers thanks to their lock-down defense schemes that forced 16 ODU turnovers and allowed the Cavs to out-rebound them by 14. It took five minutes for ODU to get on the board and by that time the score was 12-0; creating a deficit that the Panthers would never overcome.
SCORE: Walsh 65, ODU 41
LOCATION: North Canton, Ohio (Alumni Arena)
RECORDS: Walsh 4-2 (1-0), ODU 2-4 (0-1)
FOR THE CAVALIERS:
- Tim Smith Jr. continues to prove why he's one of the best players in the G-MAC. Walsh's big man had 22 points, going 8-13 from the field, and snagged 8 boards in the process.
- Owen Hazelbaker was dominant on the board for the Cavs as he pulled 9 total.
- Hazelbaker neared a double-double after posting 17 points. He also added 2 assists, 1 block and 1 steal.
- Aiden Satterfield looked strong offensively as he went 5-8 from the field and finished with 14 points.
- Satterfield connected on 3 of 5 from behind the arc.
- Four other Cavs played a critical part as role-players tonight, helping the team to go 38.3% from the field and 91.7% from the charity stripe.
- Zach Szul led his team with 13 points only connecting on 4-9.
- Former Jackson high school player, Kevin James played tight defense as he led the team with 5 rebounds, scoring 11 along the way.
- The Panthers as a whole struggled from three, going 4-32, as most of those shots were contested.
Original source can be found here.
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