When and where: November 19, 2019, Cam Henderson Center, Huntington, WV, 7:00 PM ET
The Marshall Thundering Herd hope to avoid an upset and third consecutive loss on Tuesday when taking on the Charleston Cougars. After opening up the season with wins over South Carolina Upstate and Georgia State, the Cougars dropped their first loss of the season last week in a 73-54 blowout to Oklahoma State. Meanwhile, the Thundering Herd have fallen in back-to-back outings against Notre Dame and Toledo.
Charleston gets crushed by long-range shots
The Cougars were neck-and-neck with Oklahoma State until the second-half of the game when the Cowboys made all of the adjustments. When the game was on the line, Charleston went cold on the floor and finished with only 24 points to Oklahoma State’s 43 points. They simply lacked the sustained offensive firepower to compete down the stretch.They’re hoping the same isn’t true in Tuesday’s outing against the Thundering Herd. It’s no secret Marshall has faced the better opposition early in the season, and their stats are a bit skewed due to those tougher match-ups. At least the Cougars won’t have to worry as much about 3-point shots. Cowboys guard Thomas Dziagwa dropped seven on them last Wednesday, and the Thundering Herd have shown significant struggles getting shots to fall when pulling up from long-range.
Charleston guard Grant Miller has been spectacular in both of the team’s wins so far this season. That will have to continue to be the case on Saturday against a Marshall team that hasn’t shown much offensive life outside of Jarrod West and Taevion Kinsey.
Marshall needs more offense
A problem right out of the gates for Marshall has been the massive pressure consistently heaped on either West or Kinsey to perform. Granted, Iran Bennett did manage to score in double figures in the loss to Notre Dame, but for the most part, the Cougars’ offense has remained top-heavy. No other player outside of Kinsey, West and Bennett finished in the Thundering Herd’s loss to Notre Dame in double figures.It would be different if they boasted the kind of shut-down defense to keep them in games. But they also haven’t been facing cakewalk opponents, either. That will remain the case in Tuesday’s head-to-head meeting with the Cougars. It’s the same Cougars team shooting 41.6 percent from the floor and 25.4 percent from 3-pointer.
Considering the Thundering Herd’s shooting struggles, this game could play out in their favor as a slow-burner. Charleston doesn’t boast the offensive efficiency to strike quickly, and Marshall won’t get drawn into a 3-point shooting match to keep from getting blown out. They aren’t a team built for an offensive shootout.
Team Trends
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The top supporting trends for this game, found on Covers.com, are:
- Cougars are 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 road games.
- Cougars are 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a double-digit loss at home.
- Cougars are 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 non-conference games.
- Cougars are 0-2-2 ATS in their last 4 games overall.
- Thundering Herd are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a winning % above .600.
- Thundering Herd are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games against a team with a winning straight up record.
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