— By Bill Cornwell
Late season positioning in Conference USA is on the line for Marshall as the Herd dances the Texas Two Step with visits to UTSA and UTEP.
Marshall meets UTSA at 9 p.m. Thursday in a nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network. Marshall will play UTEP in its final scheduled game at this point on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Don Haskins Center.
Marshall is currently tied with Old Dominion and FAU for sixth in the Conference USA standings. The results of this weekend’s game will determine the remaining schedule for C-USA teams over the final four regular season games. Teams are split into three pods, consisting of positions 1-5, 6-10 and 11-14 in the league standings. Teams will only play the other teams in their pod after this weekend.
With two wins and some help, Marshall could possibly jump into the top pod, but the Herd is likely to remain in the second pod with at least one win over its next two games.
The Herd (12-13, 6-6) is coming off a pair of home wins last weekend. Marshall first picked up a 72-58 victory over Southern Miss, before securing an 83-79 overtime win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday night.
UTSA (11-14, 5-7) sits a game behind Marshall in the standings and is coming off a split in last week’s road trip, winning at Old Dominion in overtime, 85-81, and losing at Charlotte, 91-84.
The Roadrunners feature the second-highest scoring duo in college basketball in junior guards Jhivvan Jackson (27 points per game) and Keaton Wallace (19 ppg). Jackson is second in the nation in scoring and was named conference player of the week for the fourth time this season after scoring 70 points on last week’s road trip, including 45 points in the Charlotte loss.
Jackson and Wallace should be a good challenge for Marshall’s talented guards. Taevion Kinsey continues to lead the Herd with 15.8 points on average, while Jarrod West is second in scoring at 14.7. Fellow guard Andrew Taylor is the only other Marshall player scoring in double figures on average at 10.2 per game.
Besides Jackson and Wallace, no other UTSA player scores in double figures and the other starters don’t average five points per game.
Senior forward Byron Frohnen leads the Roadrunners in rebounding, averaging just below seven. Jackson picks up six rebounds per contest.
Expect the Herd and UTSA to play at an uptempo pace. Marshall is No. 10 in the nation in that stat according to KenPom.com, while the Roadrunners lead the league with 79 points per game.
The Roadrunners are coached by former Kansas State star Steve Henson, who is 62-63 in four years in the Alamo City.
On Saturday, the Herd takes on UTEP (13-12, 4-8), which is coming off lopsided losses at Charlotte and Old Dominion.
The Miners are tied with Rice for 11th in the C-USA standings.
UTEP features three double-figure scorers, led by junior forward Bryson Williams (18.7 ppg), sophomore guard Souley Boum (12.2 ppg) and graduate guard Daryl Edwards (10.5 ppg). Williams is the team’s top rebounder at 7.1 per game.
Boum is one of the top foul shooters in college basketball with a 90.9 free throw percentage, good for tops in Conference USA and seventh-best nationally.
Rodney Terry is in his second year as UTEP’s head coach, leading the Miners to a 21-33 record over that time.