Men's basketball team looks to end this season on a roll

Marshall's men's basketball team returns to action at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Cam Hender-son Center to face Mid-American Conference foe Northern Illinois.

Returning home after Monday's 84-73 road loss to Kent State, the Thundering Herd looks to get back to winning against Northern.

"For us to be successful, we have to come out and play our game," Marshall head men's basketball coach Greg White said.

"We need to be consistent for the whole 40 minutes, not just in spurts."

Marshall's biggest fear about Northern Illinois is its inside play, White said.

T.J. Lux scored 36 points and grabbed 20 rebounds against Marshall when the Huskies downed Marshall 92-74 at Northern Illinois in January.

"The keys for us to win this game will be to try to contain Northern's inside play," Mar-shall guard Joda Burgess said.

"If we control their big men and just play tough then we will be all right."

The Thundering Herd is 15-7 overall and 7-6 in the league. The Huskies are 12-10 overall and 6-7 in the conference.

Marshall endured a tough stretch the past two months, losing four of its last six conference games.

"Those losses took a little out of our team, but we have to realize this is a long season," White said.

"We were really disappointed with our play at Kent Monday but we have to recover and move forward.

"The team is realizing now that the season is long and there are some highs and some lows that must be dealt with along the way."

But that long season can prove weary, Burgess said.

"I think the last couple of games our 3-point shooters have been a little tired," the junior reserve said.

"We need to get the ball inside more and then be prepared to make the open jumper if the big men kick it out."

To have a chance to get a first-round conference tournament home game, Marshall must win the rest of its games.

"A 12-6 record might win this thing," White said of the conference's regular season title. "So if we start winning we're still in this thing.

"We have to concentrate on taking each game one at a time," he continued. "We won five in a row this time last year, so if we can run the table, we will be looking pretty good."