GAME NOTES: The Marist Red Foxes and the Fresno State Bulldogs clash Wednesday in a battle for the 7th-place finish in the Gulf Coast Showcase at Germain Arena in non-conference action.

Marist has yet to win a game this season in four tries. The Red Foxes dropped a season-opening clash with Bucknell, the lost at home to Army just a few days later. In the Showcase, Marist lost back-to-back games against Florida Gulf Coast (58-43) and Hawaii (62-55) in consecutive days.

Fresno State dropped a season-opening contest to Pepperdine, then picked up its first win of the season against Bristol University, 93-55. But since then the Bulldogs have lost three straight, including consecutive 58-52 decisions to Evansville and East Carolina.

Marist's offensive struggles continue this season, and were apparent in Tuesday's contest against Hawaii. The Red Foxes shot just 32.1 percent from the floor in the game, and made only 25 percent of their 3-point attempts. Foxes scorer Khallid Hart didn't play on Tuesday due to a foot injury, and it appears as though he won't be ready to go for Wednesday's contest either. Chavaughn Lewis did his best to make up for Hart's loss Tuesday, netting 24 points with nine rebounds in the defeat, while Phillip Lawrence tallied 11 points. But No other Marist player netted more than five points, which allowed Hawaii to open things up for the win.

Hart has played in only two games this season, and it's apparent the Red Foxes need him on the offensive end of the floor. Marist averages just 58.0 ppg through four contests, and Hart has netted 24.5 ppg in the only two contests in which he has played. Otherwise Lewis has been the go-to scorer for the Foxes, netting 17.3 ppg with a team-best 5.5 rpg average. But offense hasn't been the sole problem for Marist, which has allowed opponents to score 67.8 ppg this season, and shoot 41.1 percent from the field. Marist's 37.4 shooting percentage on the year has to improve as well.

Fresno State has largely had the same problem as Marist in this Gulf Coast Showcase - neither has played well offensively. Maybe that means this matchup will be perfect for one team's offense to catch fire and build momentum. The Bulldogs shot a dismal 32.7 percent from the floor in the game, which included a downright awful 26.9 percentage in the second half to drag the team down in the eight-point loss. Julien Lewis performed well, netting 23 points on 8- of-17 shooting. Marvelle Harris chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds, and was the only other Fresno State player to record a double-digit point total.

Although Fresno State's lack of scoring has been apparent in the last few days, the Bulldogs still support four players who average a scoring figure in the double digits. Lewis leads the team with 16.4 ppg, and is connecting on 42.7 percent of his shot tries from the floor. Harris checks in at 12.2 ppg, Paul Watson comes in at 11.8 ppg and Karachi Edo rounds out the group with 11.0 ppg. Harris' 5.6 rpg average is the best on the team, and he'll need to battle for second-chance points with some of Marist's big men Wednesday. The team enters the fray with Marist averaging 64.6 ppg.

Something seems like it has to give in this battle of notoriously poor offenses. Marist needs Hart back desperately to avoid any further damage to its season, but that doesn't look like it will happen Wednesday. Fresno State can start to turn things around if performances become more consistent. That should happen against a struggling Marist team Wednesday.