Capital Classic: Expect plenty of fouls for West Virginia and Marshall

West Virginia-Marshall will be a grindout matchup in Charleston, with both sides used to getting to the line as well as making their opponent earn points instead of allowing easy buckets.

Marshall is No. 26 in the nation in free throw attempts per field goals attempted, according to Ken Pomeroy's rankings. Meanwhile, West Virginia is No. 26 in fouls per game, averaging 21.6 per contest. That should lead to a lot of whistles blown in the cross-state rivalry between the two squads. Derek Redd of the Daily Mail wrote about the physical style of play to be expected when the two teams take the court in the Capital Classic:

"I don't know if anything can prepare you for that," Herrion said. "It's a great rivalry with the level of physicality of two highly competitive teams in a rivalry game."

The two teams combined for 70 free throws in 2010 and 32 fouls last season.

Neither team is off to a particularly great start this season, with the Mountaineers sitting at 2-3 with losses to decent Gonzaga, Davidson, and Oklahoma teams while the Thundering Herd are 5-3 with disappointing losses by one point to South Dakota State and in double overtime to Hofstra. The game will be played at a neutral site in Charleston at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night, broadcast on WPBY.