WKU Basketball: Three Questions Ahead of WKU vs. Marshall
The long gameless week ends tomorrow for the Fella Tops, who will welcome Marshall to Diddle Arena for the squad’s second meeting of the…
The long gameless week ends tomorrow for the Fella Tops, who will welcome Marshall to Diddle Arena for the squad’s second meeting of the season.
The Tops ran Marshall out of their own gym in the last meeting, but that was an aberration of a game and I’m expecting tomorrow to be a much closer contest.
So, what are the big questions heading into tomorrow?
Who’s healthy?
Darius Thompson was sick a week ago, and it certainly showed. The WKU offense couldn’t click and Thompson never looked right. Well, he’s feeling better but on Stansbury’s radio show at the beginning of the week, he said a couple of others were under the radar.
It goes without saying, but if recent trends are to be believed, then not having Lamonte Bearden available would be a bigger blow than not having Jake Ohmer available, who has been struggling mightily as of late.
I say all this knowing full well this was on Monday, and they both could be fine and render this a moot point. However, if the Tops are dealing with another sick player on the court again, what will that do to the offense? Will they battle through it, or will Stans realize that a sick player (in the most recent case, Darius) was hindering the performance and not risk it?
We’ll find out tomorrow.
What does Marshall look like at full strength?
When the Tops matched up with Marshall the first time around, all-world big man Ajdin Penava left the game early with an apparent leg injury, and the Herd never looked the same. No Penava, plus having to guard Justin Johnson and Dwight Coleby (who finished with 27 and 18 points, respectivelly that night), led to a matchup that Marshall couldn’t combat, which in turn lead to the blowout victory.
With Penava healthy, the Herd get 16 points, nine rebounds and five blocks on the floor, and that’s to accompany the scoring duo of Jon Elmore and C.J. Burks, who each are averaging over 20 points a game.
This Marshall team, when healthy, is scary. Don’t believe me? Take a look at their last two victories — who they’ve beaten and by how much they’ve won.
How will WKU respond?
The Tops had everything going for them last weekend — a perfect C-USA record on the line, a full Diddle, first place to hold onto — and they came out flat, and stayed flat all night long.
So, after that performance and a week off, how will they respond with a red-hot Marshall?
How do you think these questions will be answered? What questions do you have coming into the matchup? Let us know on our brand new forum.