— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — After Marshall squandered a 12-point halftime lead in last Saturday’s 58-57 home loss to Troy, first-year Thundering Herd head coach Cornelius Jackson challenged the Herd to get tougher.
Similar words were echoed in the postgame from senior forward Obinna Anochili-Killen, who had 17 points, nine rebounds and 6 blocks in the contest.
“We just have to keep playing tough,” Anochili-Killen said. “We were up by 12, but we gave the game to them. They just out-toughed us in the second half. We’re going to go back to practice and we’ll be alright.”
The first chance for Marshall (8-8, 1-2) to right its wrongs comes at 7 p.m. Thursday in the form of a visit from James Madison for a matchup at Cam Henderson Center. The game can be seen on ESPN+.
While Marshall (8-8, 1-2) lost to Troy, the Dukes (9-6,, 2-1) defeated Arkansas State, 67-62.
James Madison has a first-year head coach familiar to Marshall fans in longtime Morehead State head coach Preston Spradlin. Spradlin coached the Eagles for eight seasons, recording a 140-109 record with two appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
Spradlin had a 1-3 record against Marshall while at Morehead.
JMU’s other Sun Belt win came against Southern Mississippi, while the Dukes’ lone league loss came in December at South Alabama.
Four Dukes average double-figure scoring, led by freshman guard Bryce Lindsay at 13 points. Junior guard Xavier Brown (12.3), senior guard Mark Freeman (12) and senior center Elijah Hutchins-Everett (11.6) follow. Freeman is a transfer from Morehead.
Southern Indiana transfer AJ Smith leads the Dukes in rebounding with a 6.2 average, followed closely by the 5.9 per game pulled down by Hutchins-Everett.
The Dukes have been efficient from the perimeter and shoot 39 percent on three-pointers.
Marshall’s double figure scorers are Anochili-Killen (13.1), Mikal Dawson (12.6) and Dezayne Mingo (11). Nate Martin is leading the Herd in rebounds with 7.7 per game.
Anochili-Killen is 13th nationally with 34 blocked shots and Marshall is third in the Sun Belt with 4.1 blocks on average.
Marshall continues to struggle from long range at 28 percent.
Marshall and JMU have met nine previous times and the Dukes have won seven, including a 4-1 record over the Herd since both schools joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2022.
After Thursday’s contest, Marshall wraps up a four -game home stand Saturday against Georgia Southern.