The Marshall Thundering Herd and the UTEP Miners meet in college basketball action from the Don Haskins Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Marshall Thundering Herd will look to snap a three-game losing skid after a 72-71 loss to FIU last time out. Taevion Kinsey leads the Herd in scoring with 19.9 PPG along with 5.2 RPG and 4.2 APG while Obinna Anochili-Killen has 12.8 PPG and a team-high 6.9 RPG to lead Marshall on the glass. Andrew Taylor has 13.8 PPG with 5.4 RPG and a team-high 4.4 APG to lead the Herd in assists and round out the group of double-digit scorers for Marshall so far this season. Darius George also has 7.3 PPG and 4.5 RPG as well this season. As a team, Marshall is averaging 74.3 PPG on 43.6% shooting from the field, 27.5% from three and 71.3% from the foul line while allowing 76.9 PPG on 45.1% shooting from the field and 35.6% from three this season.
The UTEP Miners will try to rebound after a 66-58 loss to North Texas last time out. Souley Boum has 18.9 PPG with 2.9 APG so far this season while Keonte Kennedy has 13.3 PPG and a team-high 5.9 RPG to lead the Miners on the glass. Jamal Bieniemy has 15.7 PPG with a team-high 3.7 APG to lead the Miners in the assist department and to round out the trio of double-digit scorers for UTEP up to this point in the season. As a team, UTEP is averaging 68.7 PPG on 42.3% shooting from the field, 35.9% from three and 76.1% from the foul line while allowing 65.2 PPG on 43.8% shooting from the field and 33% from three this season.
Marshall is 0-7 ATS in their last 7 road games and 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games as a road underdog while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 road games against a team with a home winning percentage above .600. UTEP is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games as a home favorite.
The problem with Marshall is that this isn’t the same Herd team that we’ve seen in past seasons. UTEP is not a world-beater by any stretch, but the Miners have been playing the far better basketball as of late and Marshall has been struggling to pick up results. I think those trends continue here and at worst, UTEP pulls away at the free throw line late. Either way, I look for UTEP to get a win and cover in this one.