GAME NOTES: Two Conference USA basement dwellers clash head-to-head on Thursday as the Marshall Thundering Herd make a visit to Reed Green Coliseum to face the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.

Marshall finally put a stop to a nine-game losing streak Saturday when the Herd took down conference foe Texas-El Paso, 78-71, in front of their home crowd in Huntington. Still, Marshall sits on a 5-15 record overall, with a 1-6 mark in league play and an 0-7 ledger away from home.

The same goes for Southern Miss, which ended a nine-game skid of its own Saturday, using a 75-71 overtime victory over North Texas to get the job done. The 6-12 Eagles are 1-6 in Conference USA action as well, and are keeping their heads above water at home with a 5-4 mark in Hattiesburg.

This will be the 18th meeting between Marshall and Southern Miss all-time, with Marshall owning the slim 9-8 advantage in the series. But the Golden Eagles have won two of the last three matchups, and are 7-1 against the Herd at home.

Despite a bit of a rocky first half for the Thundering Herd against UTEP, in which Marshall shot 36.1 percent from the floor, the home squad was able to develop a lead over the Miners at halftime, 42-39. The Herd had to battle through nine lead changes, but earned an 11-point advantage just under five minutes into the second half to start to put things away. It was a well- rounded effort by the Herd, who were led by Justin Edmonds and his 20-point night. Ryan Taylor tallied a double-double for Marshall with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while J.P. Kambola chipped in with 13 points. Aleksa Nikolic rounded out the team's double-digit scorers in the win with 10 points, adding in six rebounds and four assists.

Taylor has largely been the go-to player for Marshall this season, as the forward leads the team in two of the three major offensive categories. Taylor is first on the squad when it comes to scoring at 15.0 ppg, and averages 8.4 rpg to best the Herd, which is also good for third in Conference USA. His 55 assists on the season falls 20 short of team-leader Nikolic's 75 helpers. Austin Loop is the only other active Thundering Herd player to average a double-digit point total, though, chipping in 11.0 ppg. Marshall is netting 66.8 ppg on just 38.7 percent shooting from the floor (last in the conference in field goal percentage), and is allowing opponents to net 71.8 ppg this season (third-to-last in the league rankings).

Southern Miss was able to overcome an eight-point deficit at halftime on Saturday to knot the score at 62-62 at the end of regulation against North Texas. Then the Golden Eagles went to work in the extra session, hungry for their first win in the last 10 tries. Chip Armelin was stellar for the Golden Eagles in the four-point overtime win, leading the team with 30 points and chipping in with seven rebounds. Norville Carey tallied a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Matt Bingaya added in 12 points with nine boards of his own. Southern Miss was able to pick up the win despite shooting 12-of-21 from the free-throw line with 14 team turnovers.

Bingaya and Armelin are in a friendly battle for the team lead in points per game average, as Bingaya currently leads the team in scoring at 14.1 ppg, followed very closely by Armelin's 14.0 ppg mark. But Bingaya has the decided edge on the glass, as the guard leads the team in rebounding at 5.7 rpg. Carey rounds out a trio of double-digit scorers this season for the Golden Eagles at 10.4 ppg. As a unit, Southern Miss is averaging just 61.1 ppg this season (last in Conference USA), and is allowing opponents to net 68.7 ppg on 46.9 percent shooting.

Neither team has been able to string anything positive together this season, and the immediate horizon doesn't appear to be too promising. But one team will walk away from this clash victorious, meaning one team's first win streak since the start of the 2014-15 season.