Coming off a tight win on the road against Fresno State last Saturday, the UB men's basketball team will travel to Huntington, W.Va. to challenge the Marshall Thundering Herd in an important league game.
Marshall is currently 2-12 in the Mid-American Conference, and 5-18 overall. The Herd is in last place in the competitive MAC East division. UB, on the other hand, is on a four-game winning streak, and is currently 9-6 in the MAC and 17-7 overall. The Bulls are in third place in the MAC East division with Buffalo in line to receive a bye in the first round of the MAC tournament in Cleveland.
When UB and Marshall faced off earlier in the year, Marshall kept the game close and was leading in the second half before UB pulled away in the end for a 78-65 victory. In that game, Marshall shot well from 3-point land in the first half. In the second half, however, UB adjusted its defense, switching to a zone, which proved effective in slowing down the Herd's offensive attack.
UB head coach Reggie Witherspoon is prepared to use the zone again if needed.
"We might use the zone defense. We would like to establish pressure with our man-to-man defense, but we are certainly prepared to be able to go to a zone, and use that as a Plan B," said Witherspoon. "(Marshall) shoots the ball extremely well. They are very talented, they play hard, and they are extra good at home."
Confident in the positive momentum the Bulls have built over the course of their last four victories, Witherspoon is not worried about falling into a trap against last-place Marshall, even after a big win on TV against Fresno State and a big game coming up against Ohio.
"We don't really look at (Marshall) as a last-place team, they've had some success and they've played everyone very well, including us," said Witherspoon. "I don't think there's anyone who really looks at Marshall as a last-place team. That is one of the benefits of playing in a conference that is such a high quality conference. You can typically throw out the standings; we've been in last place before too."
One thing coach Witherspoon is worried about entering this game is travel-related fatigue due to the extensive traveling the Bulls have recently endured.
"When you're on a plane, your body dehydrates, so we're really stressing and emphasizing that everyone gets enough nutrition in them," commented Witherspoon.
Though Marshall has three players who average double digits in points per game, no one on the team averages more then 11 points per game. Marshall as a team averages only 68 points per game, which puts them in 10th place out of 14 teams.
UB on the other hand leads the MAC, averaging 75 points per game, and has three players who average over 11 points per game. Turner Battle is the leading scorer for the Bulls, averaging 15.4 points per game, which ranks him at number 10 in the MAC.
A.W. Hamilton, Marshall's senior point guard is a potent offensive threat that the Bulls will need to pay attention to. Hamilton averages 10 points per game and four rebounds per game, while leading an often underestimated Thundering Herd team that has played a handful of close MAC games this season.
Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight in Huntington, W.Va.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
