– By Bill Cornwell
The struggling martial men’s basketball team hopes that the proverb of home-kissing is true as the thundering flock plays its last domestic games of 2023-24 season at the Came Henderson Center this week.
Three straight sports loser, Marshall (12–15, 7-7) hosted James Madison (24-3, 11-3), which at 7 pm on Wednesday night. Duke is demanding a seventh direct win in a matchup which will air on ESPN+.
Poor shooting and defensive breakdowns were one of more pressure problems, which recently fought on 0-3 road trips showed deficit in Troy, Aplachian State and Coastal Carolina.
“There are things that we have got to clean, but I think we are very close,” said Sofomore forward Wayet Fricks. “It comes down to make the shot, causing clever stretch and shutting up the game.”
Fricks say that Duke and Apalachian state plays in the preparation of Marshall, although both teams present a tough challenge within weeks of the earlier matchup.
James Madison defeated Marshall on 20 January in Harrisonburg, W., 67-52. Terence Edwards Junior scored 20 points to lead Duke, while Marshall was led by Kamdin Karfman’s 23 points.
“You know what they are going to run,” said Fricks. “When we played against him, they are not going to change a lot, so I believe we will have only one mindset and we have just got to complete things, as much as we did for the first time.”
Duke Sun Belt is second in the conference standing, a game behind the Leader Apalachian state. The climbers will be in Huntington for a game at 6 pm on Saturday night, which will be television on ESPN2 or ESPNU.
The JMU features four players double-figure scoring-edwards (17.1), TJ Bikresf (14), Noah Freedel (11.8) and Julian Wooden (10).
Bickerstaff is Duke’s top rebounder in 8.4 per game.
Marshall still has four double-figure scorers, but the difference between those scorer has compressed. The leading scorer Obinna Anocheli-Killain is coming out of three subjugates in which he has scored a total of 11 points. He still leads the marshal with a 15.5 scoring average, followed by Cavon Voals, which is an average of 14. Karfman’s 13.1 points per game and Nat Martin’s game 10.9 points, which are also Marshall’s top rebounders at 9.6, which round out in dual figures.
Marshall’s head coach Dan D’Antony hopes that the return to the herd to play in front of the loyalty can provide a very important spark to his team late in the regular session.
“I believe these children and I promise you that they will not give up,” D “Antony said. “I know that our good fans will not give up on them.”
Marshal currently ranks seventh in the sun belt.
Flock and James Madison have met seven times in the past and Duke has won five.
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Marshall’s Sun Belt Conference leading female basketball team remains on the road this week with a game in Louisiana-Mono on Wednesday and Saturday in Texas State.
Wednesday’s game in San Marcos, Texas suggested at 8 pm
Marshall (19–6, 13–1) won the road in Appalachian State and Old Dominion last week and maintained a two-game lead in the sun belt on Troy with three regular-season games balance.
The state of Texas (13–14, 3–11) lost twice on the road in Troy and Southern Miss last week.