The (14-3 SU, 9-5 ATS) Southern Miss Golden Eagles and (13-4 SU, 11-5 ATS) Marshall Thundering Herd are set to face off on Thursday at Cam Henderson Center. Southern Miss, 4-3 on the road, defeated UL Monroe 65-60 on Saturday. Marshall, 10-1 at home, beat Coastal Carolina 81-66 in its last game.
The Thundering Herd beat the Golden Eagles 74-60 in their lone meeting last season. Marshall is 13-11 all-time versus Southern Miss.
Tip-off from Huntington, WV, is at 9:00 p.m. ET. Marshall is a 7.5-point spread favorite, and the game total is 145 points.
The Golden Eagles went 10-3 in non-conference games, picking up a win over Vanderbilt. USM has carried its momentum into Sun Belt Conference competition, winning three of its first four. Southern Miss was picked to finish 13th in the conference's preseason poll.
In their latest win on the road at UL Monroe, the Golden Eagles won a tight contest by five points. USM was outshot from the field (36.7%) and three (33.3%) but shot 12-for-13 from the free-throw line (92.3%). The Warhawks were outrebounded 39-33, giving up 17 offensive rebounds, and turned the ball over too much. Senior forward DeAndre Pickney paced Southern Mississippi with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
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— Southern Miss MBB (@SouthernMissMBB) January 10, 2023
USM scores 76.1 points per game on 46.2 percent shooting from the field. It converts 32.9 percent of its three-point shots and 69.5 percent of its free throws. The Golden Eagles average 34.9 rebounds per game and boast a +4.8 rebounding margin. Their schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency rating is the 167th-highest in the nation, per KenPom.
Junior guard Austin Crowley leads Southern Miss in scoring at 17.2 points per game. The Golden Eagles also depend on contributions from senior forward Felipe Haase (14.8 PPG and 7.0 RPG), Pickney (13.5 PPG and 7.5 RPG), and junior forward Denijay Harris (7.7 PPG and 4.6 RPG).
USM surrenders 62.0 points (30th in D-1) and its opponents shoot 40.1 percent from the field, including 31.7 percent from long range. Its schedule-adjusted defensive efficiency is 102nd, and its assist-per-turnover ratio (1.20) is 63rd.