Golden Eagles seek statement victory over Thundering Herd

On Saturday the Golden Eagles will put their Conference USA leading 16-3 record on the line against the visiting Marshall Thundering Herd in a contest that will help determine conference supremacy.

The Thundering Herd enters the game on a five-game win streak with a 14-5 record. They are atop C-USA with a 4-0 conference record. Southern Miss comes in at 3-1 in conference play, their one blemish courtesy of a 58-60 road defeat to Memphis. The loss put the brakes on an 11-game win streak, but they are coming off a 59-55 bounce-back victory over conference opponent UAB.

If the Golden Eagles can secure a victory against Marshall, they will match the Thundering Herd's conference record at 4-1, giving this mid-season conference matchup late-season implications. The Thundering Herd is not a squad to overlook, as they took No. 3 Syracuse down to the wire in a hard-fought 56-62 loss on Dec. 6. Syracuse is now ranked No. 1 in both national polls.

Southern Miss had a "quality loss" of their own on Nov. 27, as they battled into double overtime with an undefeated Murray State, coming up short 81-90. (Murray State is still undefeated at 19-0) and boasts the No. 10 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.

The key to this matchup will be on the glass, as the Thundering Herd is the third best rebounding team in the nation. They are also first in the nation in offensive rebounding and rebounding margin, so it would not be a surprise to see junior forward Dennis Tinnon collect his 10th double-double of the season.

The Golden Eagles are led by junior guard LaShay Page with 13.4 points per game and a C-USA leading 2.9 three-pointers made per game. Southern Miss will look for his hot shooting to continue in order to ignite the offense, while USM big men Maurice Bolden 6.2 RPG and Torye Pelham 5.7 RPG will look to limit the forwards of the Thundering Herd in second chance points on the offensive boards.

Marshall enters the contest at a respectable mark of 4-2 on the road, while Southern Miss looks to improve to a perfect 11-0 at home. This game will be an excellent mid-season test for both teams until they square off again in their respective season finales on Mar. 3 in Huntington, W.Va.

Southern Miss head basketball coach Larry Eustachy and the Golden Eagles will take on the Thundering Herd on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Reed Green Coliseum. The game will be televised on Comcast Sports Southeast.