By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON – Marshall can now stow the luggage used in road trips to Ohio and South Carolina because the Thundering Herd will be home for the remainder of 2020.
The four-game homestand begins Sunday afternoon at 2 with a visit by nearby rival Ohio. The Bobcats’ visit will be followed by home games with Toledo (December 16th), Northern Iowa (December 19th) and UNC Asheville (December 22nd).
The 3-0 Herd is coming off a Wednesday night 84-72 win at College of Charleston. Marshall limited the Cougars to one field goal in the final 13:18 on the way to a comfortable win. Marshall outscored Charleston 27-5 in the final minutes of the game. Seniors Jarrod West and Jannson Williams led Marshall with 19 points each. Taevion Kinsey had 13 for the Herd and he was joined in double figures by Darius George with 11 points. George was the Herd’s leading rebounder with 8 as MU outrebounded the Cougars 36-29.
Marshall will face a big challenge in the Bobcats, who have matched up the Herd 104 previous times. Ohio leads the all-time series 56-48.
The Bobcats have a 4-1 record, coming off a 92-72 Thursday home win over Purdue Northwest. Ohio also has wins over Chicago State (84-61), North Carolina A and T (84-72) and Cleveland State (101-46). The Bobcats lone loss came to a Top-10 team, Illinois, by a 77-75 score.
Ohio alum Jeff Boals is in his second season as head coach in Athens and he has a 21-16 record. Boals is a former Marshall assistant.
The Bobcats top players are guard Jason Preston, who is averaging over 21 points per game, and fellow double-figure scorers Ben Vander Plas (13.8 ppg), Dwight Wilson the Third (13.3 ppg), Ben Roderick (11.7 ppg) and Lunden McDay (11.2 ppg).
Wilson and Vander Plas are the Bobcats top rebounders.
Ohio averages out-scoring its opponents by nearly 22 points per game and out-rebounds them by nearly six boards per contest.