Chilly, chilly night in H-town, which always makes me wonder: Here in the Siberia of Conference USA, do some opponents feel like they’re rather be somewhere else, and play like it? At times, I’ve thought so.

Obviously, the Herd must slow down Darrius Morrow, who scored a career-high 33 points, including a 3-point play with 5 seconds left that gave the Pirates the upset.

Or is it obvious?

Well, Morrow went 11-of-17, but the rest of the Pirates were 16-of-32, 7-of-15 from 3-point range. There was some cause and effect there, but Tom Herrion’s Marshall team *never* wants to give up 7 3-pointers on any number of attempts.

Another stat from that game: The Herd was just plus-4 on the boards. In the return bout in Greenville, it was 44-22 — MU had 13 offensive rebounds vs. ECU’s 12 defensive.

I expect something like that tonight … Marshall has a considerable size advantage, Morrow notwithstanding, and should use it.

Let Morrow score 25. Kill the 3-pointer, rule the boards and enjoy a week before the next game. The Herd needs this one.

Follow me on Twitter @dougsmock for 40 minutes of 140-character wisecracks …

… for finally making a basketball-centered expansion decision.  It’s the league’s heritage, regardless of the dollars and cents. … But I am betting the Big East profits from this in a big way, at least by perserving what it has on the hardwood. And guaranteeing Central Florida two more losses per year.

Of course, Memphis football might not add much …

Back to Conference USA and Marshall, who is going to host the 2013 C-USA tournament, which likely will be the last call for the league as we know it? And with the C-USA/Mountain West merger going full speed ahead, when will the Herd end up playing a conference basketball tournament in Vegas?

Reread it and weep, Patsie fans …

First off, I will have a Herd notebook tonight, leading off with Shaquille Johnson’s continued contribution on the offensive end. He is 6-of-8 from 3-point range the last two games and about 43 percent since the calendar turned to 2012. If you attended the Herd’s whipping of Tulane, you know Shaq kept the home team afloat until its inevitable dominance kicked in.

Tulane reminded me of The Citadel teams Ed Conroy played for back in the day … Enough talent, smarts and grit to make you nervous, but lacking in size, speed and other athletic traits.

Anyway, the Herd pulled into a tie for 4th with Central Florida, which it wins on a tiebreaker, for now. For fans dragging yourselves to Memphis for the first time, a top-4 finish means a first-round bye and one worry-free night on Beale Street … Completing a season sweep over UCF next Wednesday would be enormous … but first, the Herd must play at Tulsa, that perpetually gritty team with Jordan Clarkson emerging as a star.

C-USA had its game of the season so far on Wednesday night, with Southern Miss breaking a 5,000-game losing streak against Memphis. Accounts from Hattiesburg and Memphis, with Geoff Calkins telling Tiger fans to take a deep breath.

For a bonus,  we have the soon-to-retire AD at Memphis downplaying the latest Big Not-So-East rumor du jour. After all, it would be bad manners to openly court the BNSE with 11 other C-USA teams coming to town.

BTW, I was told “Little CBS,” i.e. the Network Formerly Known as CSTV, was airing a high school game and joined Memphis-USM in progress.

If you see it in reruns, give it a look because the Herd’s last two home games are Memphis and USM, on successive Saturdays. I guarantee it will be better viewing than the Shewey Building fax machine!

I would ponder the wonder of Southern Miss sitting atop the standings at the halfway pole — that *has* to be a first — but I did slot this team No. 2 in my pre-league schedule guesses.

Again, those were: 1. Memphis; 2. Southern Miss; 3. UCF; 4. UAB; 5. UTEP; 6. Marshall; 7. East Carolina; 8. Tulsa; 9. Houston; 10. Tulane; 11. Rice; 12. SMU.

Current standings: Southern Miss 7-1, Memphis and Tulsa 6-2, Marshall and UCF 5-3, Rice 4-4, Houston, UTEP and UAB 3-5, Tulane, East Carolina and SMU 2-6.

UTEP or UAB could still get hot, though they tend to shoot their feet off at the ankles. East Carolina was a gloriously stupid call, and 6th-place Rice is shocking me. Marshall should end up 4 or 5, if not higher … the Tulsa-UCF road swing may tell us a lot.

National signing day is mostly behind us, and the recruitin’ services are tallying the results. Rivals ranks Marshall No. 1 among the 9 schools staying in C-USA, but 6th by Scout. I think I need the “eyes rolling” symbol here.

Enjoy the rest of the week … and this weather.

Tonight’s best bet: For the love of God, please don’t watch ESPNU. Listen to Steve Cotton at 7 and watch Memphis-Southern Miss at 8 on “Little CBS.” Tigers win tonight and they finish a season sweep of Eustachy’s team, and become a prohibitive league title favorite.

Then again, the Tigers finish the season @Marshall, UCF, @Tulsa. But between the Xavier game this weekend and the Marshall game on Jan. 28, the schedule gets cushy (both ECU games, 3 home games).

Tigers should carry at least a 5-game win streak to Huntington, and it may be 10.

This week’s schedule for the contenders:

Memphis (6-1): @So Miss today, Xavier on Saturday

Southern Miss (6-1): Memphis, off

Tulsa (6-2): off, Marshall

UCF (5-3): off, @SMU

Marshall (4-3): Tulane, @Tulsa

Here is the Tulane preview, with a pressing issue of sorts for Ed Conroy’s team. Good to see Tammy Nunez alive and well at the Times-Pic.

Here is my game preview today, and my story on Ed Conroy and his Tulane team from Tuesday. He played for The Citadel in the ’80s, in the Huck era. Remember the daggone $2 bills at Asheville?

Updates possible here. Follow me on Tweetybird @dougsmock … My early-edition story should post at about 9:30 p.m. EST.

… but you could get a Gameday Throwdown here … Another big game tonight, as the Herd looks to right the ship.

… Today’s latest commitment … Looks like he has been targeting the Herd for some time, really enjoyed his Jan. 13 visit. … An evaluation pick at inside linebacker, looking at who else reportedly was going after. … If he comes in with a chip on his shoulder and  can be coached, you never know …

20 1/2 hours until the faxes hum …

The latest Herd commitment …

Signed at Virginia Tech in 2011 and would have qualified, but stumbled academically in the spring and went to Fork Union. He was ranked 18th in the state by the Roanoke Times.

Waiting to determine if he took the field for Fork Union. A knee injury got in the way, possibly something that cropped up in the summer. He has had the knee scoped and is reportedly back at 100 percent.

Signing day is hours away …

Any Herd fans miss Johnny Thomas about now?

First, I must say: I still hate the 3-point goal. Perhaps the Marshall basketball team should learn to hate it, too.

Tonight and/or Friday night, you can expect another examination of the Thundering Herd’s offensive woes, which is becoming the overwhelming story on this team. Remember all the times coach Herrion said, “Offense comes easy with this bunch”? It’s not coming easy.

And the timing is wretched. Marshall’s upcoming schedule is @Memphis, Tulane, @Tulsa, @UCF. That 4-0 Conference USA start could easily turn into 5-5, if this team can’t put something in the basket.

As an aside: Mitch Vingle suffered technical difficulties (RIP laptop), and lost his column on deadline. I would expect something out of him tonight.