- It's the Tennessee Volunteers. It's the Southeastern Conference. It's the Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball season opener.
Marshall visits Tennessee for a 7 p.m. Thursday contest in Thompson-Boling Arena.
"You really don't need any more information," Marshall forward Ryan Taylor said before the team departed for Rocky Top. "It can't get any better than that."
Marshall is the second-to-last NCAA Division I team to get its season going. Only Alcorn State, which visits Grand Canyon in Phoenix, Ariz., and tips off two hours later Thursday opens its season later than the Herd. Tennessee (1-1) has played two close games. They won at home against UNC Asheville (82-78) and lost at Georgia Tech (69-67).
The Herd is coached by Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame member Dan D'Antoni entering his second season after guiding the team to an 11-21 finish in 2014-15. The Vols have a new coach, Rick Barnes, who has 605 career wins in 28 seasons at Tennessee, Texas, Clemson, George Mason and Providence.
"A good test," D'Antoni said. "They're in a little bit of a transition with Rick Barnes. They played close at Georgia Tech, beat UNC Asheville. I watched both games.
"We have to compete at a high level. They''re a good ball club, but we can be very competitive with them."
During a Tuesday press conference Barnes said he's been familiar with D'Antoni since his time at Clemson when the Marshall coach was at Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach. Barnes also said he spent time with Dan and Mike D'Antoni when the brothers were coaching in the NBA.
D'Antoni knows what he is doing and his team will be prepared, Barnes said.
"They're going to get down the floor with it," Barnes said. "They put you in a lot of situations where they try to put two on the ball, get the ball moving. They're going to take the shots when they're there.
"We're going to have to get back, get set, and really work hard at defending the 3-point line."
Marshall had mixed results from two exhibition games against NCAA Division II opponents - a 112-78 win against Bluefield State College and a loss to Newberry College 101-89.
The loss to Newberry was an eye-opener because the Wolves played harder than the Herd. Taylor said D'Antoni expects Marshall to play like Newberry did. That means going hard all the time, Taylor said.
D'Antoni tinkered with different lineups and combinations in the exhibition games - giving starting assignments to non-scholarship players Brett Bowling and Noah Frampton against Newberry - trying to find what works best for a team of mostly sophomores and freshmen, 11 new members, two seniors (James Kelly, Justin Edmonds) and three juniors (Taylor, Austin Loop, Stevie Browning).
"Was I disappointed? Yes," D'Antoni said. "You always want to win games, but I was more interested in seeing how we were going to play and what we were going to do. And, we'll still be doing that for probably the next two months."
Marshall will get some added punch against the Vols with the debuts of transfers Kelly and Browning to go along with the junior duo of Taylor, a 6-foot-5 All-Conference USA player who averaged 14.1 points and 8.6 rebounds last season and 6-4 guard Austin Loop, one of the league's top 3-point shooters who hit for 11.3 points a game.
Kelly is a 6-7 forward who played one season at the University of Miami while Browning, a 6-3 guard from Logan, W.Va., played for two seasons at Fairmont State University.
One of the Vols to watch is 6-4 senior Armani Moore with averages of 14.5 points and 7.0 rebounds.
"I guess we've got to worry about him, but we're not going to focus on him," Taylor said. "We're going to do what we need to do to win the game."
Kevin Punter scored 31 against UNC Asheville and the 6-2 senior leads the Vols with a 20.0 average. Robert Hubbs III, a 6-4 junior, scores 15.5 a game.
Barnes led the Texas Longhorns to NCAA berths in 16 of his 17 seasons and a Final Four appearance in 2003, but was fired in March after a seventh consecutive season of not getting to the regional semifinals. He came to the Vols after Donnie Tyndall's contract was terminated for his involvement with an NCAA investigation at his former school, Southern Miss.
Marshall's all-time record against current SEC members is 11-28, including 3-6 vs. Tennessee.
Marshall visits Tennessee for a 7 p.m. Thursday contest in Thompson-Boling Arena.
"You really don't need any more information," Marshall forward Ryan Taylor said before the team departed for Rocky Top. "It can't get any better than that."
Marshall is the second-to-last NCAA Division I team to get its season going. Only Alcorn State, which visits Grand Canyon in Phoenix, Ariz., and tips off two hours later Thursday opens its season later than the Herd. Tennessee (1-1) has played two close games. They won at home against UNC Asheville (82-78) and lost at Georgia Tech (69-67).
The Herd is coached by Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame member Dan D'Antoni entering his second season after guiding the team to an 11-21 finish in 2014-15. The Vols have a new coach, Rick Barnes, who has 605 career wins in 28 seasons at Tennessee, Texas, Clemson, George Mason and Providence.
"A good test," D'Antoni said. "They're in a little bit of a transition with Rick Barnes. They played close at Georgia Tech, beat UNC Asheville. I watched both games.
"We have to compete at a high level. They''re a good ball club, but we can be very competitive with them."
During a Tuesday press conference Barnes said he's been familiar with D'Antoni since his time at Clemson when the Marshall coach was at Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach. Barnes also said he spent time with Dan and Mike D'Antoni when the brothers were coaching in the NBA.
D'Antoni knows what he is doing and his team will be prepared, Barnes said.
"They're going to get down the floor with it," Barnes said. "They put you in a lot of situations where they try to put two on the ball, get the ball moving. They're going to take the shots when they're there.
"We're going to have to get back, get set, and really work hard at defending the 3-point line."
Marshall had mixed results from two exhibition games against NCAA Division II opponents - a 112-78 win against Bluefield State College and a loss to Newberry College 101-89.
The loss to Newberry was an eye-opener because the Wolves played harder than the Herd. Taylor said D'Antoni expects Marshall to play like Newberry did. That means going hard all the time, Taylor said.
D'Antoni tinkered with different lineups and combinations in the exhibition games - giving starting assignments to non-scholarship players Brett Bowling and Noah Frampton against Newberry - trying to find what works best for a team of mostly sophomores and freshmen, 11 new members, two seniors (James Kelly, Justin Edmonds) and three juniors (Taylor, Austin Loop, Stevie Browning).
"Was I disappointed? Yes," D'Antoni said. "You always want to win games, but I was more interested in seeing how we were going to play and what we were going to do. And, we'll still be doing that for probably the next two months."
Marshall will get some added punch against the Vols with the debuts of transfers Kelly and Browning to go along with the junior duo of Taylor, a 6-foot-5 All-Conference USA player who averaged 14.1 points and 8.6 rebounds last season and 6-4 guard Austin Loop, one of the league's top 3-point shooters who hit for 11.3 points a game.
Kelly is a 6-7 forward who played one season at the University of Miami while Browning, a 6-3 guard from Logan, W.Va., played for two seasons at Fairmont State University.
One of the Vols to watch is 6-4 senior Armani Moore with averages of 14.5 points and 7.0 rebounds.
"I guess we've got to worry about him, but we're not going to focus on him," Taylor said. "We're going to do what we need to do to win the game."
Kevin Punter scored 31 against UNC Asheville and the 6-2 senior leads the Vols with a 20.0 average. Robert Hubbs III, a 6-4 junior, scores 15.5 a game.
Barnes led the Texas Longhorns to NCAA berths in 16 of his 17 seasons and a Final Four appearance in 2003, but was fired in March after a seventh consecutive season of not getting to the regional semifinals. He came to the Vols after Donnie Tyndall's contract was terminated for his involvement with an NCAA investigation at his former school, Southern Miss.
Marshall's all-time record against current SEC members is 11-28, including 3-6 vs. Tennessee.
