Marshall University Athletics
Men's Basketball to Close Road Slate in Norfolk
2/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 26, 2014
GAME 29: MARSHALL (9-19, 3-10 C-USA) at OLD DOMINION (13-15, 7-6 C-USA)
Thursday, Feb. 27 - 7 p.m. ET
Norfolk, Va. | Ted Constant Convocation Center (8,472)
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Having struggled away from the Cam Henderson this season, the Marshall men's basketball team will look to close out its 2013-14 road schedule with a win against new Conference USA member, Old Dominion, on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m.
In-game Twitter updates @HerdMBB, results and a recap from the night's action will be available at HerdZone.com.
HAVE YOU HERD?
With hopes of snapping Middle Tennessee's eight-game win streak, the Thundering Herd once again fell victim to the three ball as a trey with 19 seconds remaining broke a tie and lifted the Blue Raiders to a 56-53 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Cam Henderson Center.
From the opening tip, both sides remained within striking distance as the lead grew no larger than eight points for the entirety of the 40-minute contest.
A sloppy first half consisted of 21 total turnovers with 11 coming from the Blue Raiders with those mistakes resulting in 12 Marshall points. At the break, Middle Tennessee held serve, 27-25, with freshman forward Ryan Taylor (Indianapolis) having shot a perfect 4-for-4 from the field for eight points in nine first-half minutes.
TREY TOWN
Marshall's last game without a 3-point field goal was played Feb. 27, 1989, a 97-96 Herd win over Appalachian State at the Henderson Center, 738 games ago. It was the last regular-season game of 1988-89. The current streak of 3-point games began March 3, 1989, in the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals - an 83-69 Herd victory at the Asheville (N.C.) Civic Center.
FAB FRESHMEN
Over the past 13 weeks, Marshall has snagged five C-USA Freshman of the Week honors between a pair of Herd first years. Canty is responsible for three of the awards, with them all having come in consecutive weeks (Dec. 2, 9 and 16), while Taylor has collected the other two (Jan. 6 and 27).
ROAD WOES
The Herd is currently 2-12 away from home this season and is 4-26 away from Huntington since the start of the 2012-13 season.
NOT SO FORTUNATE
College basketball insider Ken Pomeroy has a ranking called "luck" that essentially takes into account statistics and compares that to a team's record and losing a lot of close games will affect a team's ranking in this category. Out of 351 NCAA Division I men's teams, Pomeroy ranks Marshall 349th in the luck category, inversely making them the third unluckiest team in the nation. The Herd has lost five games by one possession this season and an additional two in overtime.
Before the Herd's three-point road win at Charlotte this past weekend, Pomeroy had Marshall as the second unluckiest team in Division I.
CLOSE CALLS
The young Thundering Herd has struggled in close games this season as Marshall has posted a 3-14 mark in games decided by 10 or fewer points. The Herd is 1-6 in games decided by five or fewer points this season.
Marshall's three-point win at Charlotte on Feb. 15 was the first and only time during the 2013-14 season that Marshall coach Tom Herrion's club has won a game that has been decided by five or fewer points.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Marshall has yet to win a game this season in which it failed to reach the 70-point plateau. The Herd is 4-16 when scoring 79 or less points and 5-3 when scoring above 80. Having a 9-10 record when keeping opponents below 79 points of offense, Marshall is 0-9 when allowing the opposition to score more than 80 points.
ON THE LINE
Free throws have been a point of emphasis for the Herd this season as Marshall is 7-4 when converting more attempts from the charity stripe than opponents and 2-14 when making fewer free throws than the opposition. The Herd is shooting 62.2 percent from the line this season (450-of-723). Marshall's 273 missed free throw attempts rank first in NCAA Division I men's basketball.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
With numerous scoring threats in the Marshall lineup, four members of the Herd are averaging double figures in scoring, three of which have become a mainstay in the Herd's starting lineup: Canty with 16.1, Taylor with 13.5 and Thomas with 12.3.
The Herd has received scoring help from more than its top four scorers as Marshall has had three or more of its own score in double figures in 20 of 28 games this season. Unfortunately, it has not always been enough as the Herd is 6-14 this season when three or more of its own score in double figures and 3-5 when two or fewer reach 10 points.
A HELPING HAND
The benefit of having a true point guard has helped the Herd greatly this year and Canty has been the primary reason for that. An average of 5.8 assists per game has the freshman ranked tied for 23rd in the country, while he is the third-best assist man in C-USA. Canty has recorded four double-doubles on the season, all coming from a combination of points and assists.
Canty has led or tied for the lead in assists for the Herd in 25 of the season's 28 games.
SCOUTING THE MONARCHS
Similar to Marshall, Old Dominion has struggled this season when it comes to collecting consecutive wins as the Monarchs have not won back-to-back games since Jan. 16 and 18. After starting league play 3-0 and having been the final unbeaten team in conference play, ODU has since gone 3-6 against C-USA foes.
Sophomore guard Aaron Bacote paces the Monarchs with a team-high 16.2 points per game and 2.9 assists per game in 27 appearances this season, with 26 having come in the form of starts. ODU is the only team in C-USA to have a lower free-throw percentage than the Herd as the Monarchs are averaging 61.2 percent from the charity stripe.
Both programs enter Thursday's meeting with a 4-4 tie in the all-time series through their first eight meetings. With both sides now C-USA members, Marshall will look for its first win over ODU in Norfolk, Va., having been unsuccessful in its first three attempts.
UP NEXT
The Herd will return home for a pair of home games to close out the 2013-14 regular season, starting with a Sunday contest with East Carolina at 2 p.m.
---HerdZone.com---
