— By Bill Cornwell
After facing a non-conference schedule that offered a variety of challenges, Marshall steps into Sun Belt Conference play Saturday afternoon at defending league champion Troy.
The Herd and Trojans meet at 2 p.m. at Trojan Coliseum and the game can be seen on ESPN+.
“We’ve played a competitive non-conference schedule and I think that schedule will pay dividends in Sun Belt play, because the Sun Belt is a physical and athletic league, and we’ve already been able to face those types of experiences,” Marshall coach Cornelius Jackson said.
While Marshall (7-4) enjoyed a week-long break after last Saturday’s 76-74 home win over Wright State, the Trojans (7-5) had nearly identical rest following their 86-85 win at UAB last Sunday.
Scott Cross is in his seventh season at Troy and he’s amassed a 110-92 record. Cross has led the Trojans to four consecutive 20-win seasons, with 10-plus annually in Sun Belt play over that time.
“Those guys are the defending Sun Belt champions and they return seven guys from that championship team,” Jackson said. “They beat Furman, Kent State and San Diego State and lost to Southern California by a point.”
The Trojans; main threat comes in the form of junior forwards Victor Valdes and Thomas Dowd. Valdes leads the Trojans in scoring at 17.6 points, while Dowd averages a double-double of 15.3 points and 10.4 rebounds.
Two other Troy players average double-figure scoring — sophomore guard Cooper Campbell (14.8) and graduate center Theo Seng (12.8).
The Trojans lead the Sun Belt in points per game at 89, free-throw attempts (25.1) and free-throws made per game (18.3).
Marshall continues to feature four double-figure scorers — Jalen Speer (14), Wyatt Fricks (13.7), Noah Otshudi (13.2) and Matt Van Komen (10.2).
Van Komen leads the Herd in rebounding at 8.5 boards and he’s one of the nation’s best at blocking shots. The 7-foot-4 graduate student is fourth in the country with 35 blocks and tied for third at 3.18 per game.
As a team, MU ranks 13th nationally and leads the Sun Belt at 5.9 blocks on average. The Herd also leads the conference in three-point shooting percentage at 35.8 percent from behind the arc, while making 9.8 per contest.
Marshall and Troy are meeting for the seventh time and the series is tied at 3-all.
Marshall has one final non-conference game as the Herd hosts WVU Tech next Tuesday night at 7 at the Henderson Center.