Marshall Men’s Basketball Preview
By Ben Anderson, FM88 Sports Director
Dec. 9, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — Tomorrow, the Marshall Thundering Herd aims to get back on track as it welcomes the old Conference USA rival Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at the Cam Henderson Center.
The Thundering Herd enters at 5-4 and on a three-game losing streak following an 88-81 loss on the road Saturday to the Ohio Bobcats.
The Herd shot poorly in the contest from behind the arc, going 6-24. Head coach Cornelius “Corny” Jackson said that the Herd has to re-evaluate themselves after the loss.
“That’s real uncharacteristic of us,” Jackson said. “We have to be better all around. I have to be better. The players have to be better. So, we have a few days of soul searching and look in the mirror and really evaluate what we can do to get this thing right. Because it’s not a good feeling to lose three games in a row, regardless of who were playing.”
The Hilltoppers from Bowling Green, Ky. enter the contest at 6-2 and winners of back-to-back games following an 80-79 victory at home on Saturday against the Evansville Purple Aces.
Evansville took the early lead in the contest going up 18-8. Ryan Myers then lit a spark for the Hilltoppers, leading the team to an 8-0 run to pull WKU within two at the 10:34 mark in the first half. Evansville responded with a 7-0 run to push its lead back to eight, but WKU closed the first half with a 17-5 run.
The Hilltoppers bursted into an 18-6 run early in the second half to build a double-digit lead, then held off a late Purple Aces rally in the final minute.
Myers finished with a career-high seven 3-pointers on his way to a season-high 27 points.
“I wasn’t really thinking about a career high,” Myers said. “I was thinking about winning the game. Every shot I was taking, I was just saying in the moment, and my teammates were finding me, the coaching staff was putting me in situations to get those shots and take those shots. I’m just grateful that we got the win.”
The Hilltoppers are ranked fourth nationally with 22.2 free throws made on 30.4 attempts.
This is a rivalry that most famously dates back to both teams’ times in Conference USA. Western Kentucky leads the all-time series 23-12 and went 12-8 in Conference USA action. The Hilltoppers have won the last 6 games in the series.
Coach Jackson said that the preparation does not change despite this game being a rivalry.
“We’ll treat it like any other game,” Jackson said. It’s our Super Bowl because it’s the next game on our schedule and we’ve lost three straight now. So, hopefully we come out with a little bit more competitive toughness and mental focus, and competitive focus. You have to have competitive stamina. You can’t have it for two plays and then take three plays off. You can’t have it for four plays and then take two plays off. You have to be consistent with those things, and that is what I think this team is lacking right now.”
The game will be broadcast on 88.1 WMUL-FM 88.1 and online on stream 1 at marshall.edu/WMUL. FM88 Sports’ Ben Anderson & Rhys Owens will be on the call with pregame coverage at 6:30 p.m. and tip-off at 7 p.m.