— By Bill Cornwell
Marshall didn’t have much time to think about Saturday night’s disappointing 99-84 home loss as the Thundering Herd boarded a charter flight less than 24 hours later to head to Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
The Herd will take on Southern Mississippi at 8 p.m. Monday, with the contest at Reed Green Coliseum available to be seen on ESPN+.
Marshall and Southern Miss were originally scheduled to play on New Year’s Day, but the game was postponed due to COVID-19 issues with the Golden Eagles’ program.
Both teams are entering the homestretch of tough regular seasons, with Marshall (10-17, 3-11) hoping to claim a second-straight road win by defeating the struggling Golden Eagles (6-20, 1-12).
The Herd are in last place in C-USA’s East Division, while Southern Miss is at the bottom of the league’s West Division.
Marshall suffered a double-digit loss on Saturday to the 49ers despite shooting better than 50 percent from the field and 45 percent from behind the 3-point line. The Herd’s problems stemmed from an inability to stop Charlotte’s motion offense with its constant backdoor cuts helping to produce 62 percent shooting. Marshall also struggled to rebound and was handled on the glass, 33-20.
The loss prevented the Herd from winning three straight, but junior guard Taevion Kinsey says there is no time to allow any problems to resurface at Southern Miss.
“The things that we did do wrong, we’re going to try to clean those things up before we take on Southern Miss,” Kinsey said. They’re no walk in the park either, no matter their record. Everybody’s coming to play this year.”
There have been no changes in Marshall’s statistical leaders, as Kinsey, sophomore guard Andrew Taylor and freshman forward Obinna Anochili-Killen top both the scoring and rebounding charts.
Southern Miss has four players who average scoring in double figures — junior forward Tyler Stephenson (14.4 points per game), junior guard Tae Hardy (13.7), junior forward Isaih Moore (12.1) and freshman guard Jaron Pierre Jr. (10.2).
Stevenson and Moore lead the Golden Eagles in rebounding with averages of 7.6 and 6.5, respectively.
Southern Miss coach Jay Ladner has a 24-59 record over three seasons as head coach at his alma mater.
The Golden Eagles enter off an 84-70 home loss to UTEP on Saturday, and their lone C-USA win this season came at UTSA, 74-73, back on January 6.
Souhern Miss has lost nine straight overall.
Marshall and Southern Miss have met 25 previous times and Marshall has won 16 of those contests. The teams last played in 2020, with Marshall winning at home 72-58.
After Monday’s game, Marshall stays on the road for Thursday’s game at Middle Tennessee State.