Marshall University’s men’s basketball team (11-20, 7-11) takes on Western Kentucky University (19-11, 12-6) 7 p.m. Wednesday in the first-round of the C-USA Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama.

During Marshall’s impressive season-ending run, Western Kentucky was one of many teams to fall victim to the Herd, suffering an 87-82 loss Feb. 14 at the Cam Henderson Center.

Ryan Taylor, sophomore forward for Marshall, recorded one of his league-leading 14 double-doubles to propel the Herd over the Hilltoppers in last month’s game.

Taylor said the team never doubted itself throughout the season and even believed it would make the conference tournament during its nine-game losing streak.

“We knew we were going to win games,” Taylor said. “It just took us a while to get on a good streak. We got hot at the right time, you could say.”

While Taylor’s impressive individual season earned him a spot on the All-C-USA Third Team, the Hilltoppers have two All-Conference players of their own.

T.J. Price, guard for the Hilltoppers, was named to the All-C-USA First Team, while teammate George Fant, forward, was named to the All-Conference USA Second Team.

Justin Edmonds, junior guard for the Herd, said the team is not satisfied with simply getting into the tournament—its goal is to win it all. 

“We want to go in with the mentality that we’re going to win,” Edmonds said. “And with the way we’ve been playing, I don’t think it’s impossible for us to do that.” 

The winner of Wednesday’s match will face the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the home team in the tournament.

The game is set for 6 p.m. Thursday.

Malcolm Walton can be contacted at [email protected].