The Florida Atlantic Owls will be at Henderson Center to take on the Marshall Thundering Herd in a Conference USA matchup. The game gets underway at 7:00 pm ET on Thursday, Jan. 7.
The Thundering Herd easily got past Western Kentucky 94-76 on Sunday. James Kelly played a key role, recording 27 points and 11 rebounds to notch his sixth double-double this season. The Owls are coming off a 76-59 loss to FIU on Sunday. Nick Rutherford recorded 10 points, five assists, and three steals.
Kelly has been playing at a high level as of late for the Thundering Herd, averaging 20.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 2.2 steals, 1.0 block, and 1.0 three-pointer over the last five games.
This game should be a battle of contrasting styles. The Thundering Herd (ranked sixth in the nation in possessions per game) prefer a fast-breaking style of play, while the Owls (297th) are slow-paced.
Marshall, a nine-point favorite, will look to capitalize at home against Florida Atlantic. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is set at 148 points. The Thundering Herd look to improve upon their records of 5-9 Straight Up (SU) and 7-6 Against The Spread (ATS).
On the other side, the Owls head into the game with records of 3-7-2 ATS and 2-12 SU. Most recently, Florida Atlantic is a meager 1-6-2 ATS over the last 10 games.
Marshall and Florida Atlantic will be facing off in their first head-to-head clash of the season. When they last met the Thundering Herd were winners, evening up the two teams’ head-to-head record (2-2). They are even ATS as well (2-2).
Predictions: SU Winner – Marsh, ATS Winner – FlaAtl, O/U – Over
Notes
Marshall is 5-12 SU in its last 17 games.
Marshall is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home.
Marshall is a perfect 1-0 SU against the conference, while winless Florida Atlantic has languished at 0-1 SU.
Marshall scores 84.4 points per home game (ranked 71st). Florida Atlantic ranks a poor 127th in points allowed on the road, allowing 72.9 points.
On average, Marshall has 76.8 possessions per game and scores 1.023 points on each possession. Florida Atlantic has both fewer possessions (67.0) and scores fewer points during those possessions (.918).
Marshall has an average effective field goal percentage of 49.7%. Florida Atlantic is an underachieving 1-7 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
Marshall ranks 67th in assists, registering 15.7 per game. Florida Atlantic performs worse at 288th with 11.8 assists per game.
Marshall has forced an average turnover percentage of 20.4% this season. Florida Atlantic has a losing 1-3 record when its TO% is 20.4% or higher.
