GAME NOTES: The UCF Knights bring a three-game homestand to a close tonight, as they entertain the Marshall Thundering Herd in a Conference USA event in Orlando. The Knights enter the contest riding a season-high three-game losing streak, with each setback coming by seven points or fewer. The team was last in play on Saturday, when it suffered an 84-81 defeat to Houston. It was the fourth loss in 12 home games by UCF, which fell to 11-10 overall and 4-3 in conference play. As for Marshall, its struggles on the road continued with a 74-55 beating at UAB on Saturday. The loss was the sixth in seven road outings for the Herd, which fell to 11-9 overall and 3-4 in conference play. Tonight's contest marks the fifth all-time meeting between Marshall and UFC, with the series being tied at 2-2.

The Herd made good on just 38.0 percent of its field goal attempts, as it was defeated at UAB over the weekend. The missed shots were even more costly when considering Marshall was completely dominated on the boards, 42-22. Mark Dorris paced the team in defeat with 17 points, while Tyler Wilkerson logged 15 points and four boards. Markel Humphrey was held to just eight points, but despite that effort, he still leads the team in scoring for the season at 13.7 ppg. Dorris nips at his heels with 13.6 ppg and he is grabbing 4.2 rpg, while Tirrell Baines contributes 10.8 ppg and a team-high 6.3 rpg. Overall, the Herd is netting 67.2 ppg, but that number could be higher if the team was to improve on its sub par 31.9 percent shooting from three-point range and its 67.0 percent at the foul line.

The Knights have done a good job at the offensive end of the court this season, as they are scoring a solid 74.3 ppg on 45.4 percent shooting from the field. Jermaine Taylor is one of the premier scorers in the conference with an average of 21.5 ppg, and he is also snaring 4.9 rpg and hitting on 39.2 percent of his long-range attempts. Dave Noel is a distant second at 12.8 ppg and he is also pulling down 4.3 rpg, while Mike O'Donnell adds 11.2 ppg and 3.1 apg to the rotation. In the team's last game, Taylor poured in 31 points and collected six caroms, but it wasn't enough for UCF in an 84-81 loss to Houston. O'Donnell drained 5-of-9 three-pointers and he finished with 16 points for the Knights, who shot 42.6 percent from the floor. The team, though, allowed Houston to make 16 three-pointers in the contest and that proved to be costly.

The Knights are clearly the better shooting team in this one and with Taylor leading the way, they should be able to put the breaks on their losing streak and get back into the win column tonight.