— By Bill Cornwell
Marshall gets its first Sun Belt Conference road test Thursday evening when it takes on the Georgia Southern Eagles.
The game at Hanner Fieldhouse starts at 7 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN+.
Marshall (12-3, 1-1) suffered its third loss of the season in its last game as the Herd was defeated by James Madison on New Year’s Eve, 72-66. The Eagles (9-6, 2-0) ended 2022 last Saturday with a 73-64 win over Coastal Carolina to remain unbeaten early on in Sun Belt play.
Marshall coach Dan D’Antoni is looking for an improved effort away from home Thursday after the Herd struggled with free throw and 3-point shooting, along with untimely turnovers against the Dukes. The Herd made 4-of-17 triples and 1o-of-21 free throws in the setback to JMU.
“I knew this conference was going to be tough,” D’Antoni said. “We weren’t physically tired in the last game, but we lost our mental focus that you have to have in these games. We’re still in the learning phase.
“It’s a tough league and we’re going to have to be ready to play.”
Brian Burg is in his third season as Georgia Southern’s head coach. He took the job after serving as an assistant for Chris Beard at Texas Tech. Burg has a 35-35 record as the Eagles’ head coach, including 14-20 in the Sun Belt Conference.
GSU has two players averaging double-figure scoring and there are seven Eagles who score at least seven points per game. The double-figure scorers are senior forward Andrei Savrasov (12.8 ppg) and senior guard Jalen Finch (10.5 ppg).
Senior forward Carlos Curry is the Eagles top rebounder at 7.7 per game and Savrasov follows closely with 6.6 boards per contest.
GSU is shooting only 28 percent from 3-point range, meaning the Herd will likely predicate a defensive game plan intended to make the Eagles’ beat them from the perimeter.
Marshall’s backcourt tandem of seniors Taevion Kinsey and Andrew Taylor continue to lead the Herd with 20.5 points and 19, respectively.
Kinsey is the Sun Belt’s top scorer and he is the only player in the country averaging at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists per game.
Junior guard Kamdyn Curfman is also a double-figure scorer averaging 11.5 points.
Freshman center Micah Handlogten still leads the Herd in rebounding with 10.7 per game and he’s chipped in a team-high 37 blocks.
Marshall’s main offensive weakness has been an inability to make free throws with the Herd shooting only 62.3 percent from the foul line.
The Herd, however, averages an NCAA-best 15.2 offensive rebounds and is second nationally with 43.6 per game rebounds on average.
After Thursday’s contest, Marshall returns to Huntington for three league games starting Saturday afternoon against Coastal Carolina.