The beginning of Marshall?s basketball season will feature a throwback to the Thundering Herd?s days as an independent, when it scheduled several opponents twice out of necessity.
Or perhaps a throwback to the 1951-52 season. That?s the season then-Marshall College scheduled the Evansville Purple Aces not once but twice, home and home. If you?re counting, Marshall won both.
Those days are being rekindled, sort of, tonight as the Thundering Herd heads to the Indiana city on the Ohio River to battle the Purple Aces. Eight days later, the Aces will return the favor at Cam Henderson Center.
Tonight?s bout at the 11,600-seat Roberts Stadium will tip off at roughly 8:20 p.m. EST. The game follows an Evansville-Marquette women?s game.
The Herd will repeat the unusual home-and-home scenario with Appalachian State, playing the Mountaineers at home on Dec. 17 and at Boone, N.C., on Jan. 4.
?It?s part of a new way of scheduling,? said MU coach Ron Jirsa. ?Both teams need a home game in a particular year, it makes sense. You?ll find, across the country, a lot of teams are scheduling that way.
Marshall and Evansville mirror each other in that they both have nowhere to go but up. The Aces were 10-5 at home last year, but finished 11-17 overall and in the basement of the Missouri Valley Conference. After struggling to 6-22 last year, the Herd is picked last in its inaugural Conference USA season.
Both teams have a small veteran nucleus surrounded by a large number of newcomers. Evansville recruited seven players for this season, while six Herd players will make their collegiate debuts tonight.
The Aces have three juniors who are third-year starters: Six-foot-9 Bradley Strickland, 6-7, 250-pound Matt Webster and 3-point-shooting threat Kyle Anslinger. On the other hand, freshman guard Jason Holsinger averaged 13.5 points in two exhibition games and another freshman, Shy Ely, has started.
The teams won?t have similar styles, however. The size of Strickland and Webster indicates that the Aces will rely on their inside game to a large degree, while Mark Patton is the Herd?s lone big man in the starting lineup.
They?ve got quite a group of inside players,? Jirsa said. ?Our depth is not at that position; their depth is at that position. That?s an interesting contrast.?
The Herd will start three newcomers, point guard Chris Ross, Mark Dorris and Travis Aikens. They will join junior Tre Whitted and senior Mark Patton, who have logged 53 and 63 career starts, respectively.
Those newcomers will play in a pretty good college basketball atmosphere tonight. While Evansville basketball isn?t the hot ticket it was in the 1990s, the Aces still averaged more than 6,000 a game last year.
?Basketball is important at Evansville,? Jirsa said. ?And they?ll be out in force for their home opener.?
Or perhaps a throwback to the 1951-52 season. That?s the season then-Marshall College scheduled the Evansville Purple Aces not once but twice, home and home. If you?re counting, Marshall won both.
Those days are being rekindled, sort of, tonight as the Thundering Herd heads to the Indiana city on the Ohio River to battle the Purple Aces. Eight days later, the Aces will return the favor at Cam Henderson Center.
Tonight?s bout at the 11,600-seat Roberts Stadium will tip off at roughly 8:20 p.m. EST. The game follows an Evansville-Marquette women?s game.
The Herd will repeat the unusual home-and-home scenario with Appalachian State, playing the Mountaineers at home on Dec. 17 and at Boone, N.C., on Jan. 4.
?It?s part of a new way of scheduling,? said MU coach Ron Jirsa. ?Both teams need a home game in a particular year, it makes sense. You?ll find, across the country, a lot of teams are scheduling that way.
Marshall and Evansville mirror each other in that they both have nowhere to go but up. The Aces were 10-5 at home last year, but finished 11-17 overall and in the basement of the Missouri Valley Conference. After struggling to 6-22 last year, the Herd is picked last in its inaugural Conference USA season.
Both teams have a small veteran nucleus surrounded by a large number of newcomers. Evansville recruited seven players for this season, while six Herd players will make their collegiate debuts tonight.
The Aces have three juniors who are third-year starters: Six-foot-9 Bradley Strickland, 6-7, 250-pound Matt Webster and 3-point-shooting threat Kyle Anslinger. On the other hand, freshman guard Jason Holsinger averaged 13.5 points in two exhibition games and another freshman, Shy Ely, has started.
The teams won?t have similar styles, however. The size of Strickland and Webster indicates that the Aces will rely on their inside game to a large degree, while Mark Patton is the Herd?s lone big man in the starting lineup.
They?ve got quite a group of inside players,? Jirsa said. ?Our depth is not at that position; their depth is at that position. That?s an interesting contrast.?
The Herd will start three newcomers, point guard Chris Ross, Mark Dorris and Travis Aikens. They will join junior Tre Whitted and senior Mark Patton, who have logged 53 and 63 career starts, respectively.
Those newcomers will play in a pretty good college basketball atmosphere tonight. While Evansville basketball isn?t the hot ticket it was in the 1990s, the Aces still averaged more than 6,000 a game last year.
?Basketball is important at Evansville,? Jirsa said. ?And they?ll be out in force for their home opener.?
