Another high-scoring affair could be in store with Marshall and Rice
Days after participating in a 182-point game, Marshall likely will engage in another shoot-?em-up contest Thursday night as Rice comes to town.
When the Owls and Thundering Herd take the Henderson Center floor at 7 p.m., fans will see the Conference USA?s top two scoring, top two 3-point shooting and top two frequent 3-point shooting teams.
Just as in the Herd?s 93-89 win last weekend at Charlotte, these teams won?t cheat themselves out of shots.
?They?re very good, very similar to us,? said Herd coach Dan D?Antoni. ?There are going to be a lot of pick-and-rolls, a lot of [back cuts], a lot of 3s ? should be a great game.?
With Rice (20-9, 10-6 C-USA) in fifth place and Marshall (16-13, 9-7) in sixth, the game has potential implications for the last two first-round byes in the league tournament next week. The teams are chasing Old Dominion and Texas-El Paso, both tied for third at 11-5.
The Herd needs to win both, have ODU lose its two games and receive a nearly impossible windfall of tiebreaker luck. It just so happens ODU plays at UTEP Thursday night, then travels at Texas-San Antonio on Saturday.
To even consider all that, Marshall needs to fend off a Rice team that is enjoying its first 20-win season in 13 years.
Third-year coach Mike Rhoades has led the renaissance, suffering through a pair of 12-20 seasons at the beginning. His talent has matured, especially the threesome of Marcus Evans, Egor Koulechov and Marcus Jackson.
Evans is a dark-horse player-of-the-year candidate. The 6-foot-2 junior is third in C-USA in scoring (19.3), but leads in conference games only (20.5). Back to season-long totals, he is third in 3-pointers made (71) and 14th in free-throw shooting (77.8 percent)
Koulechov, a 6-5 junior from Russia who began his career at Arizona State, may be putting up more amazing numbers: fifth in scoring (18.5), fourth in rebounding (8.6), first in 3-point shooting (46.4 percent), seventh in 3-pointers made (65) and 10th in free-throw shooting (79.3 percent). He leads in rebounding in conference games at 9.8.
(Side note: Transferring to Rice is impressive in itself. The league?s only private school doesn?t accept just anybody.)
Jackson, a 6-3 junior, averages 12.2 points, has made 57 3-pointers and shoots 81 percent from the free-throw line.
Add it all up and the Owls are second in scoring (81.6), scoring margin (plus-7.1) and first in 3-point percentage (38.8 percent). Of those 20 wins, 10 were in league play.
A year ago, the Herd won a 94-90 score-fest in Houston.
?We knew playing against them last year, they were young,? said Marshall forward Ryan Taylor. ?But they were talented, they?re good, they play hard, and we know they have a good team, especially with Evans, their ?four? man [Koulechov] who can shoot. They have a lanky four/five [possibly Marquez Letcher-Ellis] who can play in and out a little bit, and they?re just well coached.
?It wasn?t necessarily a surprise [that the Owls have won 20 games], maybe to people who don?t pay attention to Conference USA, but they?re a good ball club.?
And it?s time for the Herd to reload its guns, because another round of shooting is on the way.
Days after participating in a 182-point game, Marshall likely will engage in another shoot-?em-up contest Thursday night as Rice comes to town.
When the Owls and Thundering Herd take the Henderson Center floor at 7 p.m., fans will see the Conference USA?s top two scoring, top two 3-point shooting and top two frequent 3-point shooting teams.
Just as in the Herd?s 93-89 win last weekend at Charlotte, these teams won?t cheat themselves out of shots.
?They?re very good, very similar to us,? said Herd coach Dan D?Antoni. ?There are going to be a lot of pick-and-rolls, a lot of [back cuts], a lot of 3s ? should be a great game.?
With Rice (20-9, 10-6 C-USA) in fifth place and Marshall (16-13, 9-7) in sixth, the game has potential implications for the last two first-round byes in the league tournament next week. The teams are chasing Old Dominion and Texas-El Paso, both tied for third at 11-5.
The Herd needs to win both, have ODU lose its two games and receive a nearly impossible windfall of tiebreaker luck. It just so happens ODU plays at UTEP Thursday night, then travels at Texas-San Antonio on Saturday.
To even consider all that, Marshall needs to fend off a Rice team that is enjoying its first 20-win season in 13 years.
Third-year coach Mike Rhoades has led the renaissance, suffering through a pair of 12-20 seasons at the beginning. His talent has matured, especially the threesome of Marcus Evans, Egor Koulechov and Marcus Jackson.
Evans is a dark-horse player-of-the-year candidate. The 6-foot-2 junior is third in C-USA in scoring (19.3), but leads in conference games only (20.5). Back to season-long totals, he is third in 3-pointers made (71) and 14th in free-throw shooting (77.8 percent)
Koulechov, a 6-5 junior from Russia who began his career at Arizona State, may be putting up more amazing numbers: fifth in scoring (18.5), fourth in rebounding (8.6), first in 3-point shooting (46.4 percent), seventh in 3-pointers made (65) and 10th in free-throw shooting (79.3 percent). He leads in rebounding in conference games at 9.8.
(Side note: Transferring to Rice is impressive in itself. The league?s only private school doesn?t accept just anybody.)
Jackson, a 6-3 junior, averages 12.2 points, has made 57 3-pointers and shoots 81 percent from the free-throw line.
Add it all up and the Owls are second in scoring (81.6), scoring margin (plus-7.1) and first in 3-point percentage (38.8 percent). Of those 20 wins, 10 were in league play.
A year ago, the Herd won a 94-90 score-fest in Houston.
?We knew playing against them last year, they were young,? said Marshall forward Ryan Taylor. ?But they were talented, they?re good, they play hard, and we know they have a good team, especially with Evans, their ?four? man [Koulechov] who can shoot. They have a lanky four/five [possibly Marquez Letcher-Ellis] who can play in and out a little bit, and they?re just well coached.
?It wasn?t necessarily a surprise [that the Owls have won 20 games], maybe to people who don?t pay attention to Conference USA, but they?re a good ball club.?
And it?s time for the Herd to reload its guns, because another round of shooting is on the way.
