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UCF returns home on Saturday to face the Marshall Thundering Herd. Tip-off is scheduled for noon.

Marshall holds the all-time edge in the brief series with UCF, 2-1. The Golden Knights are an impressive 11-1 at home for the season. They are coming off a road win at East Carolina. UCF struggled to get going in the first half, but was able to put the contest away early in the second half by piecing together a 13-0 run before cruising to a 67-49 victory. UCF enters with an overall mark of 17-6 and stands at 6-3 in CUSA. Marshall comes to town with a 9-14 record and is 4-5 in league play.

The Golden Knights remain in a three-way tie for second place in the conference with Rice and Houston. The Knights hope to keep their spot near the top of standings in C-USA and receive a first round bye in the C-USA tournament, which goes to the top four teams at the end of the season.

The Golden Knights were able to defeat Marshall for the first time ever when they collected a 78-71 victory over the Thundering Herd in the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, WV last month. They carried a 19-point lead with just under thirteen minutes remaining in the second half before Marshall closed the gap to six with two minutes left in regulation. However, they were unable to defend their home court, as they would lose to the Knights by seven. Mike O'Donnell led the Golden Knights with 20 points, five assists and an impressive 4-of-5 performance from downtown.

KEYS TO THE GAME:

Payback
UCF looks to avenge last year’s home loss to Marshall in the first ever CUSA game.

Keep it clean
The Golden Knights getting into foul trouble plagued the Knights two losses to Marshall last season. In the two games, the Knights committed 20 fouls as host and 22 as guests whereas Marshall kept it clean with 13 and 14 respectively. This gave the Thundering Herd an edge in both games, as they shot 65 free throws compared to only 22 for UCF. This also hampered the Knights as they fouled early and often, thus limiting the playing time of their big men.

Contain #4
Last time out against the Knights, Marshall forward Markel Humphrey had a career scoring day. Humphrey scored a career best 25 points and added 8 rebounds as well. The sophomore is leading the team in points per game with 14.3 while ranking 6 th in the league with 6.5 boards per contest.