Streaking Eagles host slumping Herd

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Last season?s matchups between Southern Miss and Marshall can be described as a tale of two affairs.

Two extremely different affairs.

The Golden Eagles scored more than 100 points in a game twice last season. Once versus NAIA opponent Dillard, the other coming against the Thundering Herd. A little more than a month later, Marshall knocked off Southern Miss in the next-to-last game before the Conference USA Tournament.

The latter contest is still fresh on the collective mind of the Golden Eagles as they welcome Marshall to Reed Green Coliseum for an 8:30 p.m. tipoff today. But no more emphasis is being placed on today?s game than any other.

?They probably didn?t forget last year when we beat them pretty good here, and our returning guys probably haven?t forgotten the loss at their place,? Southern Miss head coach Donnie Tyndall said. ?But, to us, it?s another conference game. And every game is of equal value.?

Today?s matchup features a couple of teams going in opposite directions. Southern Miss, winners of five in a row, is 19-3 overall and 6-1 in C-USA action, while the Thundering Herd are 8-15 and 2-6 in league play.

Marshall is coming off a loss against Florida Atlantic, while the Golden Eagles last beat Tulane and have held their last two opponents to less than 50 points. The last time Southern Miss held its opponent to less than 50 points three games in a row was the 1956-57 season.

Led by Kareem Canty (16.3 points per game) and Ryan Taylor (14.0 ppg), Marshall is third in C-USA in scoring at 77.0 points per game. But the Thundering Herd are next-to-last in the league in scoring defense, allowing 75.2 points per contest.

Today?s game is being televised by CBS Sports Network. It?s also Ray Guy Night at Reed Green, where the university will honor the Golden Eagle football and baseball legend, who was recently elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

 

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Marshall wary of too many turnovers


-- If the Marshall Thundering Herd can avoid turnovers and getting hammered on the backboards, it has a chance.

If not, it could be a long Friday night for Marshall (8-15 season, 2-6 Conference USA) against Southern Miss (19-3, 6-1) .

Southern Miss has rattled off five wins since losing Jan. 17 at Tulsa and picked up one Top 25 vote this week in The Associated Press poll.

"They feast on your turnovers," Marshall head coach Tom Herrion said about Southern Miss, which creates 16.2 turnovers and gets an average of 8.6 steals per game out of its trapping zone defense.

Marshall coughed up 31 turnovers in last year's game at Southern Miss and lost by 56 points, 102-46.

Sophomore guard Tamron Manning said it's important to be careful against the Golden Eagles and envision passes before making them.

Southern Miss is also dominating the backboards with a plus-8.0 rebound advantage per game. In its last game, a 78-47 defeat of Tulane, the Golden Eagles were plus-21 and limited the Green Wave to two offensive rebounds.

"We have to go hard on the glass," Herrion said "We have to put bodies on people and bang."

The Golden Eagles are 9-0 at home this season and average attendance in an 8,095-capacity arena is 4,341. It's Ray Guy Night and the newly-elected Pro Football Hall of Fame member will be introduced at halftime. Guy punted for the football team from 1970-72.

Marshall is 1-10 this season away from home.

Marshall is beginning a three-game conference road swing that also includes a 2 p.m. Sunday contest at Tulane and ends Feb. 15 at Charlotte.

"We've got to try to gain some consistency down the stretch and be playing our best basketball when we get to the conference tournament in El Paso," Herrion said.

"Winning creates positive momentum. Losing is not fun."

Herrion said the Herd might get an emotional boost from the presence of 7-foot-2 senior Yous Mbao, who could be available for the first time since he last played Jan. 2 at Akron. Mbao has been fighting a knee problem and appeared in only 12 games from off the bench.

Southern Miss has four seniors and one junior transfer in its probable starting five. Marshall has three sophomores and two freshmen making up its probable lineup.

Every game is like that, Herrion said.

Marshall began the season as a young team with only senior forward Elijah Pittman as a starter, and he was indefinitely suspended after nine games.

"We were young at the start of the year. We got younger," Herrion said. "We had depth at the start of the year. We got thinner."

Marshall freshman point guard Kareem Canty averages 16.3 points and 6.5 assists to rank seventh and second in C-USA respectively. Ryan Taylor, a 6-5 freshman forward, scores 14.0 a game and is 15th among conference rebounders with a 7.1 average.

College Hoops Daily identified Canty as one of C-USA's five best players so far based on statistical value.

Sophomore guard Chris Thomas hits for 11.8 points in his first NCAA Division I season. Junior forward Shawn Smith follows with 8.3 points and sophomore forward TyQuane Goard scores 7.2 while getting 5.2 rebounds.

Southern Miss is led by 5-11 senior guard Neil Watson producing 12.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals. Watson, who wears a mask in games to protect a jaw injury, is on a string of 50 consecutive made foul shots. He's the league's best free throw shooter with 88 of 93 for 94.6 percent.

Michael Craig of the Golden Eagles is a 6-5 senior contributing 11.3 points and 8.0 rebounds. Senior forward Daveon Boardingham (11.1 points), senior guard Jerrold Brooks (9.6) and junior guard Aaron Brown (8.8) round out the starting five.

Brown is a transfer from Temple University. Chip Armelin is a junior transfer guard from the University of Minnesota getting 5.2 points.