The Virginia Tech men's basketball team is on a five game winning streak, and they are looking to make it six when they travel to Huntington to take on the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday. If the Hokies can win this game and their home contest with Richmond on January 3, they will be 11-3 heading into the highly-anticipated game at Duke on January 6.

To be perfectly blunt, Marshall isn't a very good team right now. They have losses to the following teams with an RPI of 112 or worse: Robert Morris (73-69), Hoftstra (73-70), Missouri-Kansas City (79-75), Ohio (84-78), Princeton (61-45) and Bowling Green (79-78). Marshall is 3-8 overall, with wins against UNC Greensboro (82-80 in overtime), Morehead State (81-80) and Wright State (79-72.).

This is a game the Hokies have no business losing, but as we know from past experiences, it is also a game they are capable of losing if they don't show up ready to play. Here is a look at Marshall's projected starting lineup:

Marshall doesn't bring a lot of height or bulk to the table. Let's compare their average height and weight with Tech's starting lineup.

On average, the Virginia Tech starters are two inches taller than Marshall and nearly 20 pounds heavier. The Hokies should be able to score a lot point points in the paint, and guards Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon shouldn't have much trouble finishing down low against the Thundering Herd's smaller players.

Travis Aikens and Markel Humphrey are the top players for Marshall. They both put up very similar statistics. Both are capable of going inside or outside, especially Humphrey, but they should be outmatched by the bigger, stronger and more physical Hokies.

Marshall has four players in their starting lineup that are capable of playing on the perimeter, and as a result, they will take a decent amount of three-pointers. Unfortunately for the Thundering Herd, they aren't very good at making them. Four Marshall players, including backup wing Tre Whitted, have attempted at least 45 three-pointers on the season. A fifth player has attempted 32. Mark Dorris hits 37.5% of his three-pointers, but that's as good as it gets. As a team, they shoot just 30.5% from the outside.

While Marshall doesn't have anyone who shots over 37.5%, the Hokies have four players who shoot above that mark from the outside. They are: Nigel Munson (45.5%), Zabian Dowdell (40.8%), A.D. Vassallo (40.7%) and Jamon Gordon (38.5%). Tech is 38.3% from three-point range as a team, fourth in the ACC.

Marshall is allowing their opponents to shoot 37.7% from the outside, which is a pretty high number. With their size advantage on the inside, the Hokies should be able get some open outside looks as well.

Marshall is a poor shooting team overall, not just from the outside. For the season, the team shoots just 42.2%. Only two players have connected on more than 50% of their shots. One is starting forward/center Jean Francois Bro Grebe, and the other is backup seven-footer Robbie Jackson, who has taken just 19 shots on the year.

The turnover statistics don't bode well for the Thundering Herd, either. Marshall has turned the ball over 185 times this season, with just 156 assists. When ball handlers like Aikens, Humphrey, Norris and Whitted all have more turnovers than assists on the season, then something is wrong.

This game can be seen at 4 pm on Saturday on CSS. Check the local listings to see if the game is available in your area.

Bourbonstreet's View

The dead last team in Conference USA enters the Cassell this weekend, as the Marshall Thundering Heard comes a holiday calling this Saturday at 4 pm. During head coach Ron Jirusa’s three years up in Huntington WV the Herd have been slow, slower, slowest, when it comes to getting started on the right foot to begin a given basketball season. How slow? Try being 11 games below .500 during the softer out of conference portion of the Herd’s opening hoops schedule before the New Year dawns, with only 9 wins in three years over that time frame. And other than the Memphis Tigers, Conference USA is not quite a D-1 juggernaut of hoopology.

That typed ... if there is such a thing a running a true four-guard offensive set in hoops, Marshall surely employs such, as the Herd is lead by three ballers all between 6-2 and 6-5 in height. The best of the bunch is small forward Markel Humphrey, who had received a few preseason all-Conference USA sniffs from several national college hoops publications. Humphrey is first in rebounding (5.9/per) and second in scoring for the Herd (13.6). But when your leading scorer (G, Travis Aikens) is only checking in at 13.7 per game, I’m not impressed. Our Hokies enjoy substantial advantages in this game, among them are: a 266 spot edge in scoring defense, a 201 spot edge in turnovers per game, a 169 spot edge in steals, and oddly enough ... Marshall is ranked dead last in opponents FT% allowed in all of D-1.

I’ve called 12 straight VT vs. state of WV games correctly in both hoops and football; and I have no Triskaidekaphobia in telling you we will beat yet another WV colligate team this Saturday afternoon.