— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Seeking a rejuvenation of its offense, Marshall stays home to face Charlotte and Old Dominion this weekend at the Cam Henderson Center.
The Herd and 49ers clash at 7 p.m. Thursday, while Marshall hosts ODU with the same tip time on Saturday.
The games are part of a three-game homestand, with next Wednesday’s matchup against Western Kentucky concluding it.
Marshall (8-9, 2-2) split two games on a conference road swing last weekend, winning at Middle Tennessee 79-75, before faltering on offense in a 61-50 loss at UAB.
A big concern this week for MU head coach Dan D’Antoni is picking up the pace on offense after the Herd’s usually high-octane attack was slowed by solid defensive play in league losses to North Texas and UAB.
“We’ve got to get the ball moving and take shots when they present themselves and not try to manipulate the game,” D’Antoni said. “We need to take what they give us. If it’s quick, which we hope it will be, we go ahead and live with that.”
After scoring 80-plus points in six straight games, the Herd has failed to reach 65 in two of its last three outings.
Against the Blazers, Marshall finished with seven assists and 14 turnovers.
Charlotte (9-5, 3-0) is one of the surprise teams in Conference USA and the lone team without a loss in league play. The 49ers are coming off a 53-47 win at Old Dominion.
“The biggest thing is that we don’t want to get in a trap because there are some good defensive teams,” D’Antoni said. “UAB is one of them, Charlotte is going to be one of them and ODU, so we’ve got three defensive teams that like to play a grind game and we can’t fall into that where we try to grind and beat people.”
The 49ers are coached by former Virginia assistant Ron Sanchez, who is 17-26 in two seasons.
Charlotte is led by junior guard Jordan Shepherd, who averages 14.6 points per game. Jahmir Young and Drew Edwards also score in double figures and Young, a freshman guard, is the team’s leading rebounder at five per contest.
Marshall has won seven straight games over Charlotte.
Old Dominion enters Thursday’s matchup at Western Kentucky with a 6-10 record and 2-1 in C-USA.
Jeff Jones is in his seventh season with the Monarchs. Jones has a 146-77 record in Norfolk and an overall career mark of 503-364.
After starting 3-1, the Monarchs lost eight straight non-league games, but have answered with three wins over their last four contests.
Junior Guard Xavier Green is the Monarchs’ top scorer at 13.1 points a game. Sophomore guard A.J. Oliver averages 11.5 points per game. Senior Forward Aaron Carver has been strong on the boards for ODU, averaging 8.8 rebounds.