Marshall University Athletics
Hot-Shooting Illinois State Upends Marshall Men, 79-67
12/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Hot-Shooting Illinois State Upends Marshall Men, 79-67
12/11/2004
NORMAL, Ill. ? Illinois State forward Neil Plank matched a career-high with 21 points to lead the Redbirds over the Thundering Herd, 79-67, on Saturday evening at Redbird Arena. Marshall drops to 1-5 on the season, while Illinois State improves to 7-2.
Marshall could not stop the hot-shooting Redbirds, who shot a blistering 53.8% (28-52) from the floor. Illinois State also capitalized on 20 Herd turnovers, scoring 23 points off the Marshall miscues. Saturday?s game marked the fourth time in 2004-05 that Marshall has allowed a team to shoot better than 49% from the field.
?We just gave up too many points,? said Marshall head coach Ron Jirsa. ?We gave up too many turnovers, which allowed them more opportunities to score baskets.?
Although the final result was disappointing for Marshall, the beginning of the game looked promising, with the Herd opening the game on a 10-0 run before Illinois State made their first bucket at the 16:58 mark on a made three by guard Vince Greene. The Herd expanded its early lead to 14-3, but Illinois State responded with a run of its own, outscoring Marshall 14-2 over the next six minutes to take a 17-16 lead. The Redbirds would take a 41-36 lead to the halftime break.
Early in the second half, Marshall kept the game close and cut the Redbird lead to three, 48-45, on a David Anderson (Levittown, P.R.) lay-up with 16:21 to go in the game. Again, Illinois State responded, this time with a 9-2 run to put the game away. The Redbirds? expanded their lead to 17 at one point in the second half before settling with the final margin of 12.
Anderson and Tre Whitted (Wilmington, N.C.) led the Herd with 13 points apiece. Mark Patton (Barboursville, W.Va.) scored 12 points, while Joe Miles (Forestville, Md.) added 11 points for Marshall.
For the Redbirds, Plank led the Illinois State scoring effort with 21 points. Lorenzo Gordon added 15 points, all in the second half, while sophomore postman Greg Dilligard scored a career-high 14 points. Gregg Alexander also added ten points to cap ISU?s double-digit scorers.
Marshall?s next game is at Western Kentucky next Saturday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Central Time and can be heard on the Thundering Herd/ISP Radio Network and HerdZone.com.
