Dez Willingham has been inserted into the starting lineup due to Derrick Roberts’ knee injury. Willingham has made the most of his opportunity to get playing time. (Nick McCarthy)

The Mustangs will travel to Marshall for the first time in school history, and it will be just the second time that the two schools played each other.

Last season’s 75-72 overtime loss at Moody Coliseum was the first time the Mustangs and the Thundering Herd had ever matched up.

Marshall (9-15, 4-6) is returning home after a 0-2 road trip. The Herd lost to Tulsa, 63-60, and UCF, 75-58.

The current standings have SMU just one place behind Marshall toward the bottom of the Conference USA standings.

Tonight’s game and the game on Saturday against cellar-dweller East Carolina could be what the Mustangs need to get back on track.

That will have to begin with Ike Ofoegbu.

This season has been a breakthrough for Ofoegbu, who averaged just 3.8 points a season ago. He has improved that number by almost 10 to 13 points a game. Ofoegbu’s rebounding has also seen an improvement, from three rebounds a game to 6.9 a game.

When head coach Matt Doherty came to SMU, he shocked a lot of people when he said that Ofoegbu would have started for him at Notre Dame – but Ofoegbu has proved his coach right.

Jon Killen, like Ofoegbu, has seen a different role under Doherty.

Killen was moved into the starting lineup upon Doherty’s arrival and has had some success, struggling through certain games. In Saturday night’s loss to Rice, Killen did not have a great game, but turned it on when the game was on the line. Killen scored all eight of his points in the second half, including a traditional three-point play to tie the game at 60 with just over a minute left in the game.

The Mustangs have struggled on the road in C-USA this season with a 1-4 record. But those games have been played against the top teams in the conference. Marshall is not a top team, and has struggled lately.

After missing four games due to a knee injury, Derrick Roberts returned to the Mustangs lineup against Houston and scored eight points in 23 minutes.

But in subsequent practices, Roberts’ knee did not respond well and he played just 12 minutes and scored only two points Saturday against Rice. Roberts will be a game-time decision in tonight’s game.

The Mustangs will be on the east coast, giving the game an unusual tip-off time of 6 p.m.

Jon Killen leads the Mustangs with an average of five assists a game. (Nick McCarthy)