Basketball Game Preview: Marshall Rams vs. O'Connor Panthers

Marshall is 1-9 against O'Connor since February of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Marshall Rams will be playing in front of their home fans against the O'Connor Panthers at 2:00 p.m. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.

Marshall is headed into Saturday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their fourth straight game on Wednesday. They were outmatched by Brennan and fell 123-39. While losing is never fun, the Rams can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 644th, while the Bears are ranked third).

Meanwhile, after a string of eight wins, O'Connor's good fortune finally ran out on Saturday. They were beaten by Brennan 82-33. The game marked the Panthers' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.

Marshall will need focus on slowing down Ethan Bilyeu, one of several O'Connor players who made an impact when they last played. He posted ten points and five boards. Hagen Hurst was another key player, putting up three points in addition to five rebounds and three steals.

O'Connor's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 16-11. As for Marshall, their loss dropped their record down to 11-20.

Marshall came up short against O'Connor in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, falling 76-63. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hurst, who dropped a double-double on 33 points and 11 boards. Now that Marshall knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.