— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall basketball coach Cornelius Jackson didn’t hide his displeasure with his team’s approach during an 88-81 loss last Saturday at Ohio that marked the third straight setback for the Herd.
Jackson felt the Bobcats not only outplayed his team, but out-toughed it as well.
“I saw a team that wasn’t mentally tough,” Jackson said. “It wasn’t physically tough. Somehow, we’re going to challenge these guys to bring the toughness and bring it consistently.”
To try and move beyond the skid, Marshall will look to defeat an old rival in Western Kentucky, which takes on the Herd at 7 p.m. Wednesday inside the Henderson Center.
The game can be seen on ESPN+.
Marshall’s losing streak began the day before Thanksgiving with a lackluster effort in a 90-67 drubbing by Lipscomb. The Herd was far better its next time out, but committed costly miscues down the stretch and squandered a chance at a quality win, falling short at UNC Wilmington, 70-69.
Ohio then led for 37 minutes in last Saturday’s contest.
Jackson is expecting renewed focus from the Herd (5-4) Wednesday.
“It’s a day-to-day deal,” Jackson said. “We have a few more games before we hit conference. Even through this skid, we’re just focusing on the process of getting better and better each day.
“We have the talent and we knew this stretch was going to be tough.”
Wyatt Fricks (14.7 ppg) continues to lead Marshall in scoring and is followed by Jalen Speer (12.9), Noah Otshudi (12.8) and Matt Van Komen (10.4).
Van Komen leads Marshall with 7.8 boards per game and at 23 blocks with an average of 2.56, he leads the Sun Belt Conference and ranks 14th nationally.
Marshall leads the Sun Belt Conference in assists per game (17.3) and three pointers made (10.2).
Western Kentucky (6-2) arrives in Huntington on a two-game win streak with narrow victories over Wichita State (75-70) and Evansville (80-79).
The Hilltoppers opened the season with four straight wins before suffering close losses to Vanderbilt (83-78) and South Florida (97-91 in overtime) as part of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Hank Plona is in his second season as WKU’s head coach and has a 23-17 record in his brief tenure.
The Hilltoppers have several primary scorers, including sophomore guard Teagan Moore, who averages 19.6 points to rank among the top 40 players nationally in that category. Freshman guard Armelo Boone follows at 12 points, while North Texas transfer Grant Newell averages 10.5.
Seven Hilltoppers average at least seven points.
WKU’s top rebounder is graduate forward and McNeese State transfer Bryant Selebangue, who averages 7.4 boards.
The Hilltoppers make 22.3 free throws per game, the fourth most in the country, while they have the 14th highest-scoring bench in college basketball at 38.2 points.
The Hilltoppers have won 23 of 35 previous matchups with Marshall, including a 90-82 triumph last season on their home floor.
