— By Bill Cornwell
Marshall continued its hot streak Thursday with an 81-73 victory at Texas State. Now the Herd hopes to embellish its road resume Saturday afternoon at Arkansas State.
The game in Jonesboro, Arkansas tips off at 3 p.m., and can be seen on ESPN+
While Marshall (16-4, 5-2) was winning Thursday in San Marcos, Texas, Arkansas State (9-11, 1-6) suffered a home loss to Louisiana, 80-71.
Marshall comes into Saturday in a four-way tie for first place in the Sun Belt Conference standings along with Louisiana-Monroe, Southern Miss and Louisiana.
The Herd’s win Thursday gave it the best 20-game start for a Marshall team since the 1986-87 squad. The best 20-game start for the Herd came in 1971-72 when Marshall was 18-2.
Marshall, which is 4-3 on the road, has played 13 of its 20 games at home. Getting used to life on the road in the Sun Belt is a challenge, but Marshall head coach Dan D’Antoni says it’s one his squad can handle.
“We watch the players’ hours and what they do on these road trips,” D’Antoni said. “On Fridays, we go over what our opponent does and on our player’s assignments. There won’t be any running or doing anything physical, other than light shooting.”
Next month, the Herd will put that road pedigree to the test with a four-game trip in the Sun Belt featuring stops at Appalachian State, Louisiana, Coastal Carolina and Georgia State.
Mike Balado is in his sixth year as Arkansas State’s head coach and has a 78-91 record.
Arkansas State’s lone Sun Belt win came December 29 over Old Dominion.
The Red Wolves are led in scoring by junior guard Caleb Fields (11.8 points) and graduate forward Omar El-Sheikh (11.1). Freshman guard Terrance Ford Jr. scores just below double-figures at 9.2. Fields stands out as an assist leader with 94 on the season.
El-Sheikh is the Red Wolves’ rebounding leader at 9.5 per game.
Saturday’s game will be the fifth all-time meeting between the Herd and the Red Wolves. Arkansas State leads the all-time series, 3-1. The teams last met in Huntington in late November 2020, a game won by Marshall, 70-56.
After Saturday’s contest, Marshall returns to the Henderson Center for two games next week with a pair of first-time opponents — a Thursday night contest with Louisiana-Monroe and a Saturday night matchup with Georgia State.
More honors for Kinsey
Marshall senior guard Taevion Kinsey continues piling up honors. This week, the Sun Belt Conference scoring leader earned his third league Player of the Week award this season. He’s also on the Jerry West Award watch list and he was a preseason All-Sun Belt first team pick.
On Thursday, Kinsey was named to the 2023 Oscar Robertson National Player of the Year Midseason Watch List by the US Basketball Writers Association. Kinsey’s numbers this season are impressive, as he’s the only player nationally averaging 20 or more points and six or more assists per game. While scoring 19 points in Thursday’s victory, he had his ninth game with five or more assists in the process.