— By Bill Cornwell
Only two games stand in the way of Marshall and the start of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, and the Herd enters the final week of regular season play in the mix for the league’s regular season championship.
In a matchup of two first-year Sun Belt squads, Marshall (23-6, 12-4) plays at 7 p.m. Wednesday at James Madison (20-9, 11-5). The Herd wrap up the regular season Friday night at Old Dominion.
Both games can be seen on ESPN+.
The scenario for Marshall winning the Sun Belt regular season championship is rather simple. Currently trailing Southern Miss by one game in the conference standings, the Herd can become the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament by winning each of its last two games and having the Golden Eagles lose one of their two remaining contests at Old Dominion or Texas State. In that scenario, both teams would be 14-4 in league play, and Marshall would then be league champion thanks to an 89-67 win over the Golden Eagles in January.
Another scenario in which the Herd can win the Sun Belt is with one victory this week and two Southern Miss losses. In that scenario, both teams would be 13-5 in the Sun Belt.
No outcomes can prevent the Herd from not attaining a double bye in the Sun Belt Tournament, which is held in Pensacola, Florid. As a result, after this weekend Marshall won’t play again until next Saturday in a quarterfinal round matchup.
James Madison gave Marshall its first Sun Belt loss on New Year’s Eve when the Dukes won 72-66 at the Henderson Center.
In that game, JMU shot almost 52 percent from the field, while limiting the Herd to 41 percent, including 4 for 17 on three-pointers. Both teams failed to full capitalize on opportunities at the free-throw line, and JMU made 13 of 23 to Herd’s 10 for 21 effort.
Marshall’s Taevion Kinsey led all scorers in the game with 18, while Terrence Edwards was JMU’s top scorer with 16 points.
Both teams enter off strong results. Marshall won at home last week against Georgia Southern and Troy, while JMU protected its home court in victories over Old Dominion and Louisiana.
Wednesday’s game will be the sixth meeting between the two programs in a series the Dukes hold a 4-1 lead in.
Edwards, a sophomore guard/forward, leads James Madison in scoring at 12.4 points. Three other Dukes average scoring in double figures — senior guard Vado Morse (12.1), graduate guard Takal Molson (10.8) and graduate guard Mezie Offrum (10.8). Offrum is the Dukes’ top rebounder at 5.5 per game, followed closely by Edwards and Molson, who average 4.8 rebounds.
JMU out-rebounds the opposition by an average of 3.5 per contest.
Marshall and James Madison are the top two scoring teams in the Sun Belt Conference as well as tops in scoring margin.
Marshall continues to be led in scoring by Kinsey (21.9) and Andrew Taylor (20.1). They’re the only teammates in college basketball averaging at least 20 points and holds the top two spots in scoring in the Sun Belt.
Junior guard Kamdyn Curfman adds 12 points on average. Freshman center Micah Handlogten continues leading the Herd in rebounding at 10.1, also the top number in the Sun Belt.