— By Bill Cornwell
“Old Man Winter” caused significant change to the Marshall basketball schedule over the weekend, wiping out the Herd’s originally scheduled Saturday contest against South Alabama.
In turn, Marshall went nearly a full week without a game, a stretch that ends at 8 p.m. Wednesday with a matchup at Texas State that can be seen on ESPN+.
After making a school and Sun Belt Conference-record 26 three-pointers last Thursday in a 115-60 thrashing of UL Monroe, the Herd (13-7, 5-3) was unable to battle the Jaguars two days later as the Sun Belt postponed the contest until February 16 due to travel concerns centered around winter weather.
Not an ideal situation for Marshall, but one the Herd will strive to move forward from.
“We pivoted because of the postponement of the South Alabama game,” Herd head coach Cornelius Jackson said. “We treated our Saturday practice like a game. It wasn’t ideal for us and we would have rather played the game.”
Texas State (11-11, 4-6) was able to play Saturday, but suffered an 82-57 loss at James Madison. That came two days after a two-point loss at Coastal Carolina, though the Bobcats have won three straight at home.
Terrence Johnson is in his sixth season as Bobcats’ head coach and has a career record of 99-79.
Texas State is led in scoring by 6-foot-7 freshman forward DJ Hall at 14 points per game. Hall is also the Bobcats’ top rebounder at 7.6.
“He’s really good,” Jackson said. “He has a mature game. He’s crafty and a good passer and he can finish. You can tell by watching tape that he has a high basketball IQ because he’s running the show out there.”
Senior guard Mark Drone averages 13.8 points for Texas State. Two junior guards, Kaden Gumbs and Dimp Pernell, average just south of nine points and Gumbs averages 3.5 assists and better than two steals.
Marshall’s top scorers remain Jalen Speers at 15 points per game, Wyatt Fricks at 14.4 and Noah Otshudi at 14.1.
Matt Van Komen, a 7-foot-4 center, averages 7.5 boards to go with a team-best 50 blocked shots.
Marshall has won three of four previous matchups with the Bobcats.