— By Bill Cornwell
Marshall head coach Cornelius Jackson won’t have to work up a new scouting report for the Thundering Herd’s next opponent. Instead, Jackson can reference the one used last Thursday.
Marshall (10-8, 3-2) takes on James Madison (9-8, 2-3) for the second time in seven days on at 7 p.m. Thursday in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
The contest can be seen on ESPN+ and marks the start of a four-game Sun Belt Conference road trip for Marshall over the next two weekends.
The Herd defeated the Dukes 80-78 last Thursday evening at the Henderson Center as MU guard Jalen Speer burned the nets for 27 points, including a 7 for 7 performance from behind the three-point line.
“It’s basically focusing on the fundamentals and how they scored against us here,” Jackson said. “We also need to keep improving on what we did against them. We’ll be prepared for another good challenge.”
Marshall followed up the JMU victory on Saturday with an 81-69 win over Georgia Southern. The Dukes lost at Appalachian State last weekend, 86-66.
The Herd is still looking for its first road win this season.
“Whenever we shoot the ball well, we can hang with anyone,” Jackson said. “Our physicality and toughness are there and we try to do the right things defensively.”
Guard Mark Freeman, who came with JMU head coach Preston Spradlin from Morehead State, leads the Dukes with 13 points per game. Center Elijah Hutchins-Everett and guard Bryce Lindsay average 12 points and guard Xavier Brown averages 11.6 points.
AJ Smith leads the Dukes with 6.2 rebounds per game, followed by the 6.1 average of Hutchins-Everett.
The Dukes rank second in rebound margin in the Sun Belt as they out-rebound their opponents by 6.4 boards per contest. James Madison also holds the third-best three-point shooting percentage in the league at 35.2 percent.
The recent home stand was helpful to Marshall’s offense as the Herd enters the contest third in the Sun Belt with a 75.5 scoring average.
Marshall has four players averaging in double-figures each game, led by the 13.3 points per game of senior Mikal Dawson. Other double-figure scorers are senior Obinna Anochili-Killen (12.5 ppg), junior Dezayne Mingo (11.3 ppg) and senior Nate Martin (10 ppg). Martin and Anochili-Killen combine for nearly 14 rebounds on average.
After Thursday’s game, Marshall’s league road trip continues at Coastal Carolina, with a 3:30 p.m. tipoff on Saturday in Conway, South Carolina.
The Herd has games at Georgia State and Georgia Southern next week.