Marshall Thundering Herd vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles Prediction & Game Preview - 2/21/2022

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: Reed Green Coliseum, Hattiesburg, MS

Where to watch: ESPN+

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Marshall: 10-17 (3-11 C-USA)

Southern Miss: 6-20 (1-12 C-USA)

Monday is the day for you if you are totally loving the fact that there are plenty of games in the college basketball realm where bad team plays bad team. Especially if you're a fan of Conference USA basketball to which I say, what in the world are you doing with your life to fully be invested in this particular matchup?

But we shall start with the presumptive favorites of this game, the Marshall Thundering Herd. Marshall has had a rough go this season. We're talking about a team that is one only 10 of 27 games this season and has since been on a slide over the last month and a half. How bad you ask? Try 10 losses in 13 games, all within the realm of conference play.

If you want to be ballsy, add four more losses to that before conference play began and this team has lost 14 of 17 dating back to December 15th. In short, this team has not been good for the better part of this season and the only hope that we can have as a collective society is that when conference tournament time begins it will be a short, painful exit for the Herd.

Marshall is coming off a 15 point loss to Charlotte on Saturday, in which Marshall gave up 99 points to a team not known for its scoring prowess this season. Andrew Taylor led the way with 21 points and six assists, and Marshall actually did pretty well shooting on its homecourt given the circumstances.

Except defense did not rule the day for Marshall on Saturday. Charlotte shot 62% from the floor, 45% from 3 point range, one player shot 100% from the floor. It was just an entire mess defensively for Marshall. Fortunately for Marshall, going into this game, I do not suspect them to have much trouble against a team that has only won one conference game this entire season.

But college basketball tends to be very weird and I've just accepted the fact that anything can happen on any given day. Props to me for thinking that would ever change.

These Southern Miss Golden Eagles are also not good. They have been bad for the entirety of this season, winning six of their 26 games. But above all else losing 12 of 13 in conference play, and having lost nine in a row coming into this matchup on Monday, is just the icing on the cake for this group that is just mind boggling.

Before we go any further into Southern Miss’ last game, I would like to highlight their recent loss to UTSA three days ago. And I only bring it up to show this very weird box score. Both teams scored 38 points in the first half and the second half. UTSA outscored Southern Miss 22 to 3 in overtime. Overtimes are five minutes long. Why in the world is a team only scoring three and giving up 22 in a 5 minute span when the game was as even as it could have been for the first two halves?

That is a frustrating sight knowing that it was also at home for the Golden Eagles. Normally I would feel comfortable with SMU being at home, but they have lost virtually every home game this season. I know it they haven't actually done it that way but it feels like it.

The Golden Eagles are coming off a 14 point loss to UTEP on Saturday. Isaih Moore led the way with 25 points and somehow lost the game despite shooting 55% from the floor. The true culprit is 18 turnovers for the Golden Eagles, and that is how they lost to a team that shot seven percentage points worse then the Golden Eagles.

Again if you have reached the point where you're actually invested in betting on these games, be my guest because it is clearly just a crapshoot between two teams that are just bad. And there's no other way of putting it.

By the law of physics, I do think that the favorite will go over in this game, and the favorite I would presume to be the team with the most wins between the two teams. Marshall has a little bit more talent than Southern Miss does and all five positions and I cannot perceive under any circumstances that Marshall, no matter how bad they bend this season, will forgo any chance at getting an 11th victory this season and it should be a rather easy cakewalk for Marshall. Marshall by 14

Marshall is 19-29 ATS as a favorite over the past three seasons and 3-11 this season.

Marshall is 17-31 ATS against conference opponents.

Southern Miss is 3-11 ATS after allowing 80 points or more.

PG: Andrew Taylor

SG: Taevion Kinsey

SF: Obinna Anochili

PF: Mikel Byers

C: Goran Miladinovic

PG: Rashad Bolden

SG: Mo Arnold

SF: Isaih Moore

PF: DeAndre Pinckney

C: Tyler Stevenson

Points: Taevion Kinsey -- 19.2

Rebounds: Obinna Anochili -- 6.3

Assists: Andrew Taylor -- 4.5

Points: Tyler Stevenson -- 14.5

Rebounds: Tyler Stevenson -- 7.6

Assists: Walyn Napper - 4.0