PHILADELPHIA — Old Dominion men’s basketball went toe-to-toe with Villanova for 20 minutes, but the Monarchs couldn’t withstand a second-half surge, falling 89–75 on Tuesday night at Finneran Pavilion.

ODU head coach Mike Jones saw positives despite the result.

“There’s some things that I’m definitely proud of,” Jones said. “If you look at the Miami game, the GW game and the Xavier game, there were those times where the tide went the other way and we didn’t respond. Tonight, we didn’t allow that to happen.”

The Monarchs (3–5) opened with a 6–0 burst as Scottie Hubbard, Caelum Swanton-Rodger, and Jordan Battle each got on the board early. Villanova’s Bryce Lindsay answered with a three, helping the Wildcats (5–1) move ahead briefly before Battle knocked down a triple to regain the lead a

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