— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall looks to break a two-game losing streak come 4 p.m. Saturday when longtime rival Ohio pays a visit to the Cam Henderson Center.
Marshall (5-5) is coming off of back-to-back road losses at UNC-Wilmington and, most recently, at Wright State, 88-7).
Mikal Dawson led Marshall with 20 points in the Wright State, while Dezayne Mingo tallied 17 points. Obinna Anochili-Killen and Cade Gibbs each scored 11 points in the loss.
The Herd led 78-76 with 2-plus minutes to play, before being outscored 12-1 over the remainder of the contest.
Marshall has now lost 11 straight road games dating back to last season.
“We need to figure out how to put a complete game together,” first-year Herd head coach Cornelius Jackson said. ”We have the talent, but I’m concerned with our intensity and urgency to start games.”
Ohio (4-5) has been idle since last Saturday, when the Bobcats picked up an 88-76 home win over Morehead State.
The Bobcats were preseason favorites to win the Mid-American Conference. They have wins over UNC-Asheville, Portland, Robert Morris and Morehead State and have dropped contests at James Madison, Illinois State and Memphis, while also suffering setbacks against Middle Tennessee and Texas State in the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
Jeff Boals, a former Marshall assistant, is in his sixth season at his alma mater and has a 101-65 as the Bobcats’ head coach.
Ohio has five players averaging double-figure scoring — senior forward A.J. Clayton (16.2), sophomore guard A.J. Brown (11.6), junior forward Aidan Hadaway (11.1), junior guard Jackson Paveletzke (11.9) and junior guard Elmore James (10.3). Clayton is the Bobcats’ top rebounder at 6.8 per game.
Nate Martin and Anochili-Killen lead Marshall with scoring averages of 11.6. Mikal Dawson and Dezayne Mingo both average 10.9 points, and Martin leads Marshall in rebounding with an average just south of eight.
This will be the 109th meeting in a series that dates back to a 1921 meeting. Ohio leads the all-time series, 57-51. The teams met last season in Athens and Marshall came away with a 74-69 victory.