— By Bill Cornwell
Marshall looks to maintain the top spot in pod No. 2 of Conference USA Bonus Play when the Herd wraps up the home portion of its schedule Wednesday night against Florida Atlantic.
The contest at the Henderson Center tips off at 7 p.m., and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN3.
Marshall (14-15, 8-8) comes off an 88-80 loss last Thursday at UAB, while FAU (16-14, 8-9) lost in overtime on Sunday at Old Dominion, 85-80.
The Thundering Herd and Owls previously met in Boca Raton, Fla., on Feb. 1, and FAU came away with a 91-73 victory. Junior guard Richardson Maitre and graduate guard Cornelius Taylor scored 17 points apiece to lead the Owls. Freshman guard Andrew Taylor led Marshall with 25 points in the loss, which snapped the Herd’s six-game win streak against the Owls.
Marshall is tied with Old Dominion for sixth in the Conference USA standings at 8-8, while the Owls are tied with UAB for eighth at 8-9.
Taylor, who began his career at Division II Lincoln Memorial in Tennessee, leads the Owls in scoring at 12 points per game. Junior forward Jailyn Ingram is the only other double-figure scorer for FAU at 11.4 points per game.
Ingram is the Owls’ top rebounder at 5.3 per game.
FAU outscores its opponent by nearly two points per game and outrebounds the opposition by nearly the same number on average. The Owls are also effective at stealing the basketball, as they are averaging more than seven per game.
As has been the case throughout the season, Marshall continues to be led in scoring by sophomore guard Taevion Kinsey (16.1 ppg) and junior guard Jarrod West (14.5 ppg). Sophomore post player Iran Bennett leads MU in rebounding with 5.6 per game, followed closely by Kinsey (4.9 rpg).
After Wednesday’s contest, Marshall ends its regular season Saturday afternoon with a road game at UTSA. The Herd fell to the Roadrunners back on Feb. 13, 72-63.
The Marshall game wraps up FAU’s regular season, meaning the Owls then await their seeding and matchup in next week’s Conference USA Tournament in Frisco, Texas.
The Herd leads the all-time series with the Owls, 7-3.