HUNTINGTON - Marshall's basketball expectations are as high as they have been since the Thundering Herd joined Conference USA. The league schedule is weeks away, but the road to fulfilling that promise begins this afternoon.

Coach Donnie Jones begins his third season at 2 p.m. today as the Herd takes on North Carolina A&T at Cam Henderson Center. The game is one of three home contests that are part of the Global Sports Invitational.

Marshall is ranked fifth in the C-USA media poll, and that ranking is echoed in many other outlets - Athlon, CBSSports.com, Basketball Times, collegehoopsvideo.com, Lindy's, Blue Ribbon, The Sporting News and the Memphis Commercial Appeal among them.

The Herd, taller, deeper and probably quicker than it has been in years, got the ball rolling in the preseason. It reportedly defeated Radford in a closed scrimmage and openly dashed by West Virginia Wesleyan 108-64 in an exhibition Tuesday.

"The thing I'm proud of, our guys had 24 assists and 11 turnovers," Jones said. "We took care of the basketball and I thought our guys really shared it. And that's the hardest thing when you've got a lot of individual talent, share the ball. Our team has been doing a lot better job of that, and we rebounded the ball well, as we should have because of our height."

North Carolina AT&T last played in Huntington in 1973, both in January and December, with Marshall winning both times. The Aggies have three starters and seven letter-winners returning, led by point guard Tavarus Alston, who was second in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in assists last year.

The Aggies, who finished 16-16 last year, got their season off to a shooting start Friday night, downing Division II Brevard College 92-63. Alston scored 20 points, Nic Simpson had 21 and Robert Johnson added 18, and the trio combined to shoot 13-of-30 from 3-point range.

As a team, the 3-point tally was 15-of-39, and expect more of the same today. But the Greensboro-based Aggies also have Thomas Coleman, a 6-foot-9 junior who will test the Herd's beefed-up inside game. Coleman had 11 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots against Brevard, and has 147 swats in his career.

"They're very long, very athletic, much like us," Jones said. "Very well-coached. We watched the film from last year, but I think they're watching film on us from last year. I think we're a different team than we were last year. [NC A&T] is very talented, and they play seven or eight guys and they play hard."

The Herd will have to work again without point guard Damier Pitts, who is still recovering from a concussion. Dago Pena (concussion) has been upgraded to questionable, while Nigel Spikes (left knee) will probably play. Cam Miller (right ankle sprain) went full-tilt at practice Saturday and should play.

Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.

HUNTINGTON - Marshall's basketball expectations are as high as they have been since the Thundering Herd joined Conference USA. The league schedule is weeks away, but the road to fulfilling that promise begins this afternoon.

Coach Donnie Jones begins his third season at 2 p.m. today as the Herd takes on North Carolina A&T at Cam Henderson Center. The game is one of three home contests that are part of the Global Sports Invitational.

Marshall is ranked fifth in the C-USA media poll, and that ranking is echoed in many other outlets - Athlon, CBSSports.com, Basketball Times, collegehoopsvideo.com, Lindy's, Blue Ribbon, The Sporting News and the Memphis Commercial Appeal among them.

The Herd, taller, deeper and probably quicker than it has been in years, got the ball rolling in the preseason. It reportedly defeated Radford in a closed scrimmage and openly dashed by West Virginia Wesleyan 108-64 in an exhibition Tuesday.

"The thing I'm proud of, our guys had 24 assists and 11 turnovers," Jones said. "We took care of the basketball and I thought our guys really shared it. And that's the hardest thing when you've got a lot of individual talent, share the ball. Our team has been doing a lot better job of that, and we rebounded the ball well, as we should have because of our height."

North Carolina AT&T last played in Huntington in 1973, both in January and December, with Marshall winning both times. The Aggies have three starters and seven letter-winners returning, led by point guard Tavarus Alston, who was second in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in assists last year.

The Aggies, who finished 16-16 last year, got their season off to a shooting start Friday night, downing Division II Brevard College 92-63. Alston scored 20 points, Nic Simpson had 21 and Robert Johnson added 18, and the trio combined to shoot 13-of-30 from 3-point range.

As a team, the 3-point tally was 15-of-39, and expect more of the same today. But the Greensboro-based Aggies also have Thomas Coleman, a 6-foot-9 junior who will test the Herd's beefed-up inside game. Coleman had 11 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots against Brevard, and has 147 swats in his career.

"They're very long, very athletic, much like us," Jones said. "Very well-coached. We watched the film from last year, but I think they're watching film on us from last year. I think we're a different team than we were last year. [NC A&T] is very talented, and they play seven or eight guys and they play hard."

The Herd will have to work again without point guard Damier Pitts, who is still recovering from a concussion. Dago Pena (concussion) has been upgraded to questionable, while Nigel Spikes (left knee) will probably play. Cam Miller (right ankle sprain) went full-tilt at practice Saturday and should play.

Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.