Herd Hosts Tulsa Wednesday in C-USA Opener

The Thundering Herd (7-8) is coming off a 94-57 loss at Ohio on Saturday. Perhaps the lone positive in the game was the return of Preseason All-Conference USA First Teamer DeAndre Kane who had missed four consecutive games with a right hand injury. Kane is averaging 14.2 points per game and 7.9 assists, which would rank fourth in the NCAA if he had enough games played to qualify (must play in 75 percent of games).

Against the Bobcats, Marshall recorded 25 offensive rebounds, the most by a Herd team since Jan. 13, 2007. With that effort, Marshall’s offensive rebounding average improved to 16.1 per game, which leads C-USA and ranks fifth in the NCAA.

The Herd is led in scoring by Elijah Pittman with 14.5 points per game, the 11th best mark in C-USA. Junior guard D.D. Scarver is averaging 14.1 points per game. Both players have hit at least one three-pointer in every game this season.

The Golden Hurricane (9-6, 1-0 C-USA) has won three of its past four games including its latest game, a 48-47 win at SMU on Sunday in its C-USA opener. Freshman guard James Woodard averages 13.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He is arguably the top freshman in the conference, winning the C-USA Freshman of the Week award three times.

Tulsa leads the all-time series 8-5, but the Herd leads the series at home, 4-1. The two teams split its two meetings last season as Tulsa took the first game 79-70 in Tulsa and Marshall won the second, a 105-00 triple overtime win in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament. Kane scored 40 points in that game which helped Marshall reach the finals just two days later for the first time in school history.

Marshall is 4-3 all-time in C-USA openers including a 2-0 mark in C-USA openers at home.

The game can be heard on the radio throughout the Thundering Herd IMG Sports Network. It can be viewed and herd online with a paid subscription to Herd All-Access. Gametracker can be accessed through HerdZone.com. Follow @HerdZone on twitter for scoring updates in every game throughout the season.