Marshall University Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Houston Wednesday
2/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2009
Huntington, W.Va. - Marshall returns to the Henderson Center to face Houston Wednesday in a Conference USA contest that is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Thundering Herd (11-14, 3-7 C-USA) is coming off of a hard-fought 74-67 loss at UTEP on Saturday. Marshall's Chris Lutz scored 24 points and Markel Humphrey added 18 points and a team-high 10 rebounds to pace the Herd. MU trailed throughout, however cut the lead down to two with 59 seconds to go, before UTEP closed the game out with an 8-3 run.
Houston (16-7, 7-3 C-USA) has won four straight games, including an 83-64 win over Tulane on Saturday. The Cougars' Zamal Nixon scored 23 points in that contest.
Junior guards Aubrey Coleman and Kelvin Lewis combine to give Houston a powerful backcourt. Coleman and Lews are averaging 19.2 and 18.7 points per game, respectively. Six-foot-11 senior center Marcus Cousin adds 11.9 points and a Conference USA-high 9.2 rebounds per game, while junior forward Ca'rraan Calhoun contributes 11 ppg.
Head Coach Tom Penders' squad is averaging a C-USA best 78.3 points per game and limiting its opponents to just 67 points per game. Houston also boasts the top turnover margin in the league at +6.09, nearly two points higher than Memphis who is second on that list at +4.44.
The Cougars are currently tied for second-place along with UAB in the C-USA standings at 7-3.
Houston leads the all-time series 4-0 and picked up a 71-58 win over the Herd last season in Houston.
Tickets are available by calling 1-800-THE-HERD or going online to Herdzone.com's ticket center.
