After two weekends of Conference USA basketball play, there are only two remaining undefeated teams in conference action. And after Thursday’s showdown between Marshall (11-6, 4-0 C-USA) and Middle Tennessee (13-3, 3-0 C-USA), there will only be one. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, TN, and it will be available on BeIN Sports.

The Herd will meet the Blue Raiders for the first of two times this season, as MTSU will play in Huntington on Saturday, February 18. For Marshall, they will be looking for revenge against Middle Tennessee as the Blue Raiders were the team to eliminate Marshall in the C-USA semifinals a season ago. The Blue Raiders would eventually win the Conference USA tournament, and then go onto the NCAA tournament, where they upset #2 seed Michigan State in the opening round.

“It’s a huge game for us,” senior guard Austin Loop said. “Not only because of us both being the only teams undefeated, but with our past. They beat us out of the tournament last year, and went on to win it. They’re a solid team; they’re well coached and they play hard.”

This season, Middle Tennessee has picked up right where they left off last year. This season they already have impressive large margin victories over perennial SEC contenders Vanderbilt (71-48) and at Ole Miss (77-62).

“They’re a very good team,” Marshall head coach Dan D’Antoni said. “They’re the defending tournament champs, and coach Kermit [Davis] does a great job, he’s been there a long time. He’s got a great program going. It’ll be a great challenge going down there to play them.”

A positive for Marshall is that they are expected to have 6’7 junior forward Terrence Thompson back. Thompson has not played since November 25, 2016 in the team’s loss at Ohio State.

“He’ll be playing, I’m not sure whether he’ll start or not, but he’s available,” D’Antoni said. “He brings more depth, he’s solid, and has had some outstanding games. Obviously he was a huge part of our team before he got hurt, so I’m sure he’ll assume that status again.”

The Herd will need Thompson’s help inside the paint, dealing with MTSU players to watch out for, forwards JaCorey Williams and Reggie Upshaw.

Williams, a 6’8, 220 pound redshirt senior averages 17.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He is a transfer from Arkansas and has started every game for Kermit Davis’ squad.

Upshaw, a 6’8, 228 pound senior averages 15.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Like Williams, he has also started all 16 games for the Blue Raiders.

Another player to watch out for is junior guard Giddy Potts (6’2, 217 lbs). Potts is the only player other than Williams and Upshaw to have started every game for the Blue Raiders. He averages 16.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

The Herd will have their hands full when they play at Middle Tennessee on Thursday. However, Marshall is very much looking forward to the tough road matchup between teams currently number one and number two in the Conference USA standings.

“It’ll be a good test for us on the road, and I think it’ll be an exciting game,” Loop said. “It’s the type of game fans want to see and that players want to play in.”

Patrick O’Leary can be contacted at [email protected]