— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall looks to climb over the .500 mark in Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday with Appalachian State in Huntington to face the Herd.
Game time is at 4 p.m. at the Cam Henderson Center and the matchup can be seen on ESPN+.
Both teams ended the 2025 portion of their schedules with wins. Appalachian State picked up an 81-73 Sun Belt Conference victory at Old Dominion on New Year’s Eve, while Marshall overcame a strong challenge the same night in defeating Georgia State, 84-80.
The Mountaineers (9-6, 2-1) and Herd (9-5, 1-1) are looking to start separating themselves in what is expected to be a tight conference race this season.
Dusin Kerns is in his seventh season as head coach at Appalachian State and has a 123-85 record with the Mountaineers after beginning his career at Presbyterian.
Three Mountaineers average double-figure scoring, led by graduate guard Kasen Jennings’ 15 points per game. Senior guard Alonzo Dodd (12.2) and sophomore center Luke Wilson (10.1) follow Jennings as the team’s top offensive threats.
Wilson is also the Mountaineers’ leading rebounder with an average of 6.7.
ASU has struggled from beyond the arc (31.3 percent) and from the free-throw line, where the Mountaineers are converting at a dismal 61 percent clip to rank 359th out of 361 Division I programs.
For Marshall, seniors Wyatt Fricks and Jalen Speer continue to pace the squad offensively at 14.4 points, while fellow senior guard Noah Otshudi averages 13.3.
Matt Van Komen, a 7-foot-4 center, still leads the team in rebounding at eight and with 40 blocked shots, though he failed to record a rejection in the most recent contest.
Speer is also the runaway leader in assists for Marshall with 82, a category he also tops the Sun Belt in.
The teams have met 56 times in the past and Marshall has a 36-20 series advantage. The Herd won both meetings between the schools last season, a 69-59 victory in Boone, North Carolina and a 75-57 win in Huntington.
After Saturday’s home game, Marshall is back on the road next week with visits to James Madison on Wednesday and Georgia State on Saturday.