Middle Tennessee Coach Kermit Davis, left, talks to Old Dominion Coach Jeff Jones during the Conference USA NCAA college basketball media day in Birmingham, Ala., Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014. (AP Photo/ Al.com, Mark Almond) MAGS OUT

Old Dominion coach Jeff Jones brings his 25th-ranked Monarchs to E.A. Diddle Arena at 4:30 p.m. Saturday to face Western Kentucky.

This is a trip down memory lane for Jones, who attended Apollo High School in Owensboro and went to WKU games in his younger days.

He hasn’t been to WKU since he was a teenager, but he knows plenty about the tradition and all about the current Hilltoppers, who are also off to a fast start in Conference USA.

I talked to Jones by phone Friday. Here are his comments about Saturday’s game:

JEFF JONES

Coming to WKU as Kentucky native: “It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. I was 17 or 18 years old the last time I was on campus, but I can remember coming down to watch a Western Kentucky-Austin Peay game when Fly Williams was playing for Austin Peay. So that was a long time ago. But I was a fan. I remember watching the great teams. I know what a great tradition that Western Kentucky has in the basketball program. It’s kind of cool for me to be back here. I’m anxious to see – I know when Wood (Selig) was here, they did a lot of upgrades on the arena – so I’m anxious to see what it looks like now, compared to the images I have in my head from back in the 70s.”

Effort so far at 13-1, 2-0 C-USA: “I think our defensive effort has been pretty consistent, although I’d like to see – just coach stuff – our rotations sharper over the course of an entire game. At times, we can be very good defensively, and then there might be some possessions where we’re a step slow or have mental lapses. The big thing from an offensive standpoint is being sharp. I don’t feel like we’ve really shot the ball very well as of late, and that certainly would be nice to have a good shooting effort tomorrow because they do such a great job. You’re only going to get so many opportunities, and you want to take advantage of them.”

On WKU: “If we weren’t preparing to play them, I would say it’s fun watching them. They’re playing an aggressive style. They really share the ball, and watching them, we see some similarities to us, because I think our guys have done a great job of sharing the basketball. We haven’t shot it nearly as well from beyond the 3-point line as they have, but they look for one another. Fant, inside, is just a monster. He’s really good. Bryant Stith, my assistant coach who has gotten this scout, said it doesn’t make a difference if they’re playing against Louisville or Alice Lloyd – he runs to the rim and battles for every possession. He’s a warrior in there.

More on WKU: “Obviously, I don’t know if you’d say the best player, but Price is just really good. He scores, he distributes, he does a lot of different stuff. He’s so patient. Again, if we didn’t have to play against him, it’d be a lot of fun to watch him.”

— Zach Greenwell