#856 ASA TOP PLAY ON 10* UTEP -6 over Marshall, Sunday at 3 PM ET - We were on Marshall on Thursday night at home vs FIU in what we thought was a perfect setup for the Herd to pick up a win. They played a disappointing game and sent us home with a loss getting upended 72-71. That dropped Marshall to 1-10 SU in CUSA play and we expect them to be flat here going on the road a few days after losing a home game they felt they really needed to win. Speaking of the road, the Herd are 1-9 SU away from home including 0-5 on conference play. All but one of their conference losses have come by more than 10 points with an average loss margin of -15.4 PPG. UTEP is playing well winning 6 of their last 7 with their only loss coming @ North Texas, the #2 rated team in the league, by 8 on Monday. That gives UTEP nearly a full week to get ready for this game and Marshall just played on Thursday as we mentioned. The Miners will give the Marshall offense big time problems in this one. They rank 2nd in CUSA in defensive efficiency, 2nd in eFG% defense, and 1st in 3-point FG% defense. Marshall ranks near the bottom of the conference in offensive efficiency and eFG%. The UTEP defense also creates a lot of turnovers (2nd in conference) and Marshall coughs the ball up a lot (12th in the conference). On the other end the Miners shoot a lot of 3’s and they shoot them well ranking 2nd in CUSA in 3 point FG%. Marshall’s defense ranks 331st at the arc. Lastly if they need to salt this one away late, UTEP hits 77% of their FT’s as a team. This one sets up very nicely for the host.