Herd open four-game road swing against Appalachian State

— By Bill Cornwell

A major tests awaits Marshall regarding its standing in the Sun Belt Conference on Thursday evening when the Herd begins a four-game conference road trip at Appalachian State.

The game, which can be seen on ESPN+, tips off at 6:30 p.m. at the Holmes Convocation Center in Boone, N.C.

Both teams were impressive in their most recent contest. The Mountaineers (13-10, 6-4) defeated Arkansas State at home last Saturday 63-51, while Marshall (18-5, 7-3) was blowing out Georgia State at the Henderson Center, 103-65.

The Herd and Mountaineers have already met once this season when Marshall won its initial Sun Belt Conference game on December 29 over the Mountaineers, 79-53.

Andrew Taylor and Kamdyn Curfman each scored 15 points in the contest to lead five Marshall players scored in double figures. Mountaineers’ guard Tyree Boykin scored a game-high 20 points in the loss.

The teams are meeting for the 52nd time, with Marshall leading the all-time series, 33-18.

The Herd sits alone in third place in the Sun Belt standings, a game behind co-leaders Louisiana and Southern Miss. The Mountaineers are in a three-way tie for fourth place in the league.

After a rough start in the Sun Belt this season, the Mountaineers have turned things around by winning three straight games and four of their last five.

Coach Dustin Kerns’ squad is led in scoring by senior forward Donovan Gregory and graduate guard Tyree Boykin at 11.9 points per game. Boykin, however, has not played since a January 12 loss to Georgia Southern as a result of a foot injury. 

Sophomore guard Terence Harcum is also a double-figure scorer at 10.8 points per game. 

Junior forward CJ Huntley is ASU’s top rebounder at 6.6 per game. Freshman forward Justin Abson’s 50 blocks ranks fourth in the Sun Belt totals, 10 behind league leader and Marshall freshman Micah Handlogten’s 60 blocks.

Taevion Kinsey continues to lead Marshall and the Sun Belt by scoring 21.3 points per game. Taylor (19.2 ppg) and Curfman (12.3 ppg) are Marshall’s other double-figure scorers, while Handlogten is a team and Sun Belt leader with 10.6 rebounds per contest.

Marshall is shooting better than 47 percent from the field, but only 64.5 percent on free throws, though the latter number is improving of late.

Marshall’s road trip continues at 8 p.m. Saturday when the Herd visits the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Notes: Marshall is one of three Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball programs among the top 10 teams in the most recent CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25. The latest poll features Louisiana at No. 4, marking its highest ranking of the season. Southern Miss is No. 8 and Marshall is No. 10. James Madison also is receiving votes … All three ranked squads have at least 18 victories on the year and Southern Miss goes for win No. 20 on Thursday. The Sun Belt has four teams among the nation’s top 100 of the NCAA NET Rankings. Southern Miss leads the way at No. 67. Marshall is No. 71, James Madison is No. 89 and Louisiana is No. 94. Louisiana is on a Sun Belt-best eight-game win streak.





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