Marshall Preview
By Ben Westfall, FM88 Sports
Jan. 10, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WMUL-FM) – Marshall looks to close out the homestand with momentum against Georgia Southern.
Marshall comes off a hard fought 80-78 victory Thursday over the James Madison Dukes. Georgia Southern seeks to get back in the win column after a hard fought, overtime loss to in-state rivals Georgia State.
Marshall was able to hold on against the Dukes in Huntington to pick up the second conference win on the season thanks to two free-throws by senior Cade Gibbs with 1.1 seconds left.
“Fun game, fun game to watch and to coach,” said Marshall head coach Cornelius Jackson. “I’m really proud of our guys, they really stepped up to the challenge tonight.”
Despite it being a close contest, the Herd led for a majority of the game. Marshall held a lead for a little over 28 minutes of the contest.
Jalen Speer led in scoring for Marshall, with a perfect performance at the three-point line going 7-for-7. Speer also had 4 rebounds and 2 assists. His 27-point performance was a season high, topping his 20-point performance against Bellarmine back on January 6.
Georgia Southern aims to end a two-game losing skid after back-to-back conference losses. In its match with Georgia State, Bradley Douglas made a layup with 1:07 to go for the Eagles, which would eventually send the game to overtime. From there, Georgia State would prevail. Adante’ Holiman led the Eagles in scoring with 19 points.
Georgia Southern’s weaknesses against the Panthers were three-point shooting and free throws. The Eagles went 21% from three-point land and 0-for-4 in the overtime period. From the free throw line, the Eagles were just 50%.
Marshall broke the trend in three-point shooting. As of late before the JMU game, the Herd struggled in second half shooting from the three-point line. In the previous game with the Dukes, the Herd shot 67%, going 8-for-12. The Herd also went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line.
After a 17-point performance, Mikal Dawson leads the Herd in scoring with 12.9 points per game. Dawson was one of three players in double digits for the Herd against James Madison. For the Eagles, Adante’ Holiman leads the way with 16.3 points per game. Holiman has only played in 8 games with 2 starts but has scored double digits in all 8 games.
Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. at the Cam Henderson Center with live coverage on WMUL-FM 88.1 and online at www.marshall.edu/WMUL. Pregame coverage begins at 3:30 p.m.