— By Bill Cornwell
Marshall hopes Sunday’s 88-79 win at UTEP was the start of a strong closure to the regular season, and the Thundering Herd seek consecutive victories for the first since the second week of December when they welcome Old Dominion for a 7 p.m. start Thursday.
The contest is the first of two straight at home for Marshall and can be seen on ESPN+.
After losing 13 of 14 games and going 1-10 to start the Conference USA portion of its season, the Thundering Herd now seek to get even with the Monarchs.
ODU (10-15, 5-7) beat Marshall 79-64 in Norfolk, Virginia on February 3. C.J. Keyser led three Monarchs in double-figures with a game-high 19 points.
Obinna Anochili-Killed led Marshall (9-16, 2-10) with 15 points. The Monarchs out-rebounded Marshall by eight (44-36), and the Herd shot only 38.7 percent from the field in a contest they trailed in at halftime, 50-28.
ODU has lost three of four since, but the Monarchs picked up a quality 81-72 win over UAB last Sunday in Norfolk.
After being highly critical of his team’s effort following last week’s home loss to Florida International, Marshall head coach Dan D’Antoni says his team’s win in El Paso, Texas proves the Herd can play with anyone when the performance level is elevated.
“We’re athletic, long and big enough to win the battles,” D’Antoni said. “Our kids play hard, but we were missing some fire and focus that you need to be proficient at a high level.
“Every game is different and you’ve got to bring it everyday.”
Keyser, a senior guard, continues to lead ODU in scoring with 14.3 points per game and he’s joined in double figures by senior forward Austin Trice (12.9 ppg) and junior forward Kalu Ezikpe (11.2 ppg).
Trice is the Monarchs’ top rebounder at 8.5 per game, followed by sophomore guard Mekhi Long (6.9 rpg) and Ezikpe (6.5 rpg).
Junior guard Taevion Kinsey still leads Marshall in scoring at 19.8 points per game, though he saw his streak of 56 straight contests in double figures end with seven points in the win at UTEP. Kinsey was still a key contributor as he dished out 11 assists.
Sophomore guard Andrew Taylor (13.8 ppg) and Anochili-Killen, a freshman forward (12.8 ppg) follow Kinsey as the team’s top scorers.
Anochili-Killen is the Herd’s top rebounder at 6.6 per game, but Kinsey and Taylor better than five boards apiece.
Anochili-Killen’s greatest impact may come from the 78 blocks he’s contributed.
Marshall also plays at the Cam Henderson Center on Saturday, when it welcomes Charlotte for a 7 p.m. start. Like the Monarchs, the 49ers have already beaten the Herd this season.