Marshall University Athletics
Herd To Face Former MAC Rival Ohio Saturday
12/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2010
ATHENS, Ohio - The Marshall University men's basketball team will be back on the floor on Saturday, traveling to Athens, Ohio to face off against former Mid-American Conference rival Ohio on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Convo.
On Monday, the Herd improved to 4-2 with an 88-79 victory over FIU on Monday at the Cam Henderson Center. DeAndre Kane was the star for MU, notching 25 points for the second straight game, bumping his season average to 17.5 PPG, fifth in Conference USA. Over his last two games, Kane has hit 18 out of 32 shot attempts.
Kane became the first Marshall player to record consecutive games of 25 points or more since the 2002-03 season when Ronald Blackshear did so in three consecutive games in February of that season. Blackshear recorded 30, 40 and 28 points in games against Ohio, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan, respectively.
Shaquille Johnson tallied 17 points against the Panthers while Johnny Thomas notched 15. Tirrell Baines scored 10 while hauling in a game-high nine rebounds. Baines has been a dominant force on the offensive glass for MU, grabbing 22 offensive rebounds in six games this season. His average of 3.7 offensive boards per game is second in the league.
Ohio enters the game with an identical 4-2 record. The Bobcats are coming off of a trip to the Las Vegas Invitational where they faced Kansas, who was ranked sixth in the nation at the time, and Santa Clara. Following a 98-41 loss to the Jayhawks, Ohio rebounded with a 78-72 triumph over Santa Clara.
Sophomore guard D.J. Cooper is the lone Bobcats averaging double figures-putting up 17.8 PPG. He is also the leading assist man for OU, dishing out 6.7 per game, a total that is 13th in the nation. In last season's meeting in Charleston, Cooper tallied 15 points.
The Bobcats hold a 50-45 edge in the all-time series with the Herd, but it is the Herd who has had the upper hand as of late, winning the last three games. Prior to the current streak for the Herd, OU won four-consecutive contests. Marshall has struggled in road games against the Bobcats, posting a mark of 12-33 in games played in Athens and a 5-16 mark inside the Convo.
Following Saturday's game, MU will be back at the Cam Henderson Center on Tuesday, December 9, playing host to James Madison. The Dukes are currently 6-1 and face a road contest at Georgia State before traveling to Huntington.
