— By Bill Cornwell
After opening Sun Belt Conference play in mid-December with a loss at Troy, the Marshall men’s basketball team has been on a roll.
The Herd (11-5, 3-1) looks for a fifth straight victory and regular season sweep Saturday in Atlanta against Georgia State (5-12, 2-3).
The 4 p.m. matchup can be seen on ESPN+.
On New Year’s Eve, Marshall secured an 84-80 victory over the Panthers in Huntington.
Marshall is coming off of a 64-62 win at James Madison on Wednesday night in which the Herd had to hold off a late charge. The next night, Georgia State suffered a 52-50 home loss to Appalachian State.
In the fist meeting against GSU, Marshall’s Jalen Speer and Wyatt Fricks combined for 47 points, while four Panthers registered double-figure scoring in the loss.
Sophomore guard Jelani Hamilton, who is leading Georgia State with a 17.4 scoring average, will undoubtedly be a key piece of Marshall’s defensive game plan. Hamilton scored 15 in the meeting in Huntington and was perhaps more impactful defensively with five steals.
Freshman guard Micah Tucker is the only other Georgia State double-figure scorer at 12.2 points. Joah Chappelle and Anthony Enoh combined to average a dozen rebounds for the Panthers.
Speer leads Marshall in scoring at 14.8 points, followed closely by Fricks (14.2) and guard Noah Otshudi (13.7 ppg). Otshudi was the Herd’s top scorer in the most recent game with 16 points.
Matt Van Komen continues leading Marshall in rebounding, though he’s been limited to 4 minutes of the last two games as a result of an ankle injury suffered against Appalachian State.
Saturday’s game in Atlanta will be the 10th meeting between the Herd and Georgia State, a series Marshall leads, 7-2.
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The Marshall women’s basketball team pursues a 10th straight win Saturday at the Henderson Center as Coastal Carolina comes to Huntington for a 1 p.m. game.
Marshall (14-5, 5-0 Sun Belt) defeated the Chanticleers 87-85 in overtime in Conway, South Carolina on New Year’s Day.
The Herd trailed for much of Wednesday night’s game against Old Dominion before extending their win streak to nine with a strong fourth quarter in a 77-70 victory.
Coastal Carolina (8-9, 1-4) got its first Sun Belt win on Wednesday at Appalachian State, 69-53.