Appalachian State Mountaineers vs Marshall Thundering Herd Prediction, 1/3/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Appalachian State Mountaineers vs Marshall Thundering Herd

Date: Saturday, January 3, 2026

Location: Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, WV

TV: ESPN+

The Marshall Thundering Herd (9-5) are welcoming the Appalachian State Mountaineers (9-6) at Cam Henderson Center on Saturday.

The Appalachian State Mountaineers faced off with Old Dominion and earned the victory with a final of 81-73 in their last contest. Appalachian State ended having earned a 53.7% field goal percentage (29 out of 54) and made 6 out of their 18 shots from beyond the perimeter. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Mountaineers knocked down 17 of 28 tries for a percentage of 60.7%. Regarding grabbing rebounds, they collected a total of 38 with 10 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 13 assists in this game as well as forcing the other team into 8 turnovers and getting 6 steals. In terms of the defense, Appalachian State allowed 42.4% from the floor on 25 of 59 shooting. Old Dominion totaled 17 assists and had 6 steals in this matchup. In addition, Old Dominion pulled down 26 rebounds (8 offensive, 18 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Old Dominion finished shooting 59.1% when shooting free throws by burying 13 of their 22 tries. They also buried 10 of 24 tries from long range. In the matter of personal fouls, the Mountaineers ended up with 20 and Old Dominion totaled 26 personal fouls.

Michael Marcus Jr. is one guy who was a major contributor for the matchup. He finished the game at 87.5% from the floor and totaled 1 assist. He saw the court for 32 minutes played and totaled 10 boards. He accumulated 20 points on 7 out of 8 shooting.

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Appalachian State comes into this one with a record of 9-6 on the campaign. They are averaging 73.9 pts per contest (268th in Division 1) while connecting on 45.9% from the floor. The Mountaineers are hitting 31.3% on shots from beyond the arc (117 of 374) and 60.9% from the charity stripe. As a team, Appalachian State is pulling in 39.1 rebounds per game and has accounted for 201 assists on the campaign, which ranks 169th in the country in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession by turning the ball over 10.4 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 17.0 fouls per game.

Defensively, the Mountaineers have forced 10.7 turnovers per contest while drawing 19.0 fouls. They currently rank 186th in D-1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 182 surrendered on the year. The Mountaineers defensively are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 38.7% (338 of 874) and they surrender 35.3 rebounds per game as a unit. They are surrendering 29.2% on three-point shots and they are 41st in D-1 in opponents points per game (66.4).

In their last game, the Marshall Thundering Herd went home victorious with a score of 84-80 against Georgia State. When talking about rebounding, Marshall allowed Georgia State to get 33 in total (11 on the offensive glass). They finished 26.1% from distance by hitting 6 of 23 and finished the game at 20 out of 23 at the free throw line (87.0%). The Thundering Herd permitted Georgia State to bury 27 of their 62 tries from the floor which had them shooting 43.5% for this game. When the final whistle blew, the Thundering Herd went 29 out of 59 from the field which gave them a percentage of 49.2%. In relation to shots from downtown, Marshall made 12 of 30 tries (40.0%). They were able to make 14 of those for a percentage of 63.6%. Georgia State earned 18 personal fouls for the contest which got the Thundering Herd to the charity stripe for a total of 22 shots. They also coughed up the ball 15 times, while getting 11 steals in this game. The Thundering Herd were able to collect 23 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards totaling 32 in the matchup.

Jalen Speer ended up being a major contributor for the Thundering Herd for the game. He had 26 points in his 36 minutes of playing time and had 7 assists for the matchup. He knocked down 9 of 16 for this contest for a field goal percentage of 56.3%, and added 7 rebounds.

Marshall has a record of 9-5 for the year. The Thundering Herd commit 20.1 personal fouls every game and they connect on 74.8% from the free throw line. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 17.6 times per game (48th in the country) and they turn it over 13.6 times per game. Marshall has totaled 1,123 pts for the season (80.2 per contest) and they pull in 39.6 rebounds per contest. As an offense, the Thundering Herd are connecting on 46.3% from the floor, which ranks 142nd in the nation.

The Thundering Herd on the defensive end are ranked 231st in college in PPG given up with 75.2. They are forcing 12.0 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 40.9% from the field (73rd in the nation). The Marshall defense concedes 32.5% on shots from behind the 3-point line (111 of 342) and their opponents are knocking down 71.4% of their foul shots. They concede 12.6 dimes and 35.7 total boards per game, which ranks them 123rd and 246th in the nation.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Marshall

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