GAME NOTES: The Nevada Wolf pack again try to stop the bleeding of a lengthy losing streak as they host the Marshall Thundering Herd in non-conference play at the Lawlor Events Center on Monday night.

Since defeating Cal Poly and Adams State in the first two games of the season, the Pack has come up short in every other outing. Last Thursday, Nevada was in California where it tangled with Pacific and came away with a 69-65 loss at the Spanos Center in Stockton. The defeat was the eighth in the row for the program.

As for the Thundering Herd, they too started off the campaign with promise, defeating the first three opponents on the schedule. However, Marshall then fell into a six-game slide that was only stopped with a 90-76 win over King a little over a week ago. Unfortunately, the team went right back into the loss column on Saturday with a 67-58 setback versus Arkansas State in Jonesboro.

The Herd, now on the road for four straight before returning to Huntington to face Old Dominion on Jan. 8, won the only previous meeting between the programs two years ago in West Virginia by a score of 89-82.

Against Arkansas State, the Herd went from shooting only 34.4 percent from the floor in the first half to a mere 25.6 percent after intermission, preventing them from making a serious challenge for the win on the road. Ryan Taylor accounted for 13 points and seven rebounds for the Thundering Herd before fouling out, followed by Justin Edmonds and Tamron Manning with 11 points apiece, with the latter coming off the bench and also logging five personal fouls for a team that shot only 10-of-38 behind the 3-point line (.263) and was outscored at the charity stripe, 20-6.

As one of three players to have started all 11 games for Marshall so far this season, it makes sense that Taylor is the leading scorer heading into this meeting with his 14.6 ppg. Shawn Smith had been the only other double-digit scorer for the Herd with his 12.0 ppg, but he has been out of action since the start of the month due to a shoulder injury and his return does not appear to be imminent.

Nevada was held to just 17 points in the first half against the Tigers on the road last week, leaving the squad trailing by 18 points at the break. But the visitors did not pack it in by any means, they in fact made a game of it late and lost by only four points. D.J. Fenner tallied a game-high 24 points for the Pack, followed by Tyron Criswell and Marqueze Coleman with 12 and 10 points, respectively, while Lucas Stirvins came up just shy of a double-double with nine points and as many rebounds.

Fenner is scoring 12.1 ppg to lead what has been a disappointing Nevada offense so far this season. The team as a whole is shooting only 37.0 percent from the field and that includes a hideous 25.6 percent behind the 3-point line where they are averaging a mere 3.4 conversions per game. Coleman pitches in with another 10.4 ppg, but his feeble 2-of-18 effort beyond the arc is one of the reasons why the team suffers as much as it does out on the perimeter.

Marshall might be the one on the road, but until the Wolf Pack prove that they can beat a worthy opponent, it will be difficult to side with Nevada, even in Reno.