Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Men Head To Cleveland For The MAC Tournament
Herd To Take On Western Michigan In Quarterfinal Round Thursday Night
3/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Marshall Men Head To Cleveland For The MAC Tournament
Herd To Take On Western Michigan In Quarterfinal Round Thursday Night
3/10/2004
CLEVELAND, Ohio ? The eight best teams in the Mid-American Conference meet at the Gund Arena Thursday for the conference tournament. Marshall, the #8 seed, takes on Western Michigan, the #1 seed, Thursday night at 7 p.m.
Marshall split two meetings between the two schools in two meetings this season - WMU beat the Herd, 88-65, in Kalamazoo on Jan. 12th, and Marshall gave the Broncos their second loss of the season in a 82-76 overtime win in the Henderson Center on Feb. 15th. The Herd and Broncos have never met in the MAC postseason. Marshall leads the all-time series, 30-17, over Western Michigan.
The Herd is 2-9 against the other seven teams in the tournament at the Gund.
The Herd is playing in its sixth Mid-American Conference Tournament, and have a 5-6 all-time record in MAC Postseason action. Monday?s tournament home game marked the fourth time in five years the Herd has hosted a first-round game at the Henderson Center - in 2001, Marshall received a bye as the #3 seed. Marshall is 4-0 in those home games.
Marshall has advanced to Cleveland four times, and has won only once (1-4 overall record). The only win came in the 2000 tournament, when the Herd knocked off Central Michigan, 58-56, in overtime.
The eight seed has made one final since the MAC Tournament began in 1980, and that came in 2001 when #8 seed Miami faced Kent State in the championship game. The Golden Flashes won, 67-61, that season at the Gund. Miami also made the finals as a nine seed in 2000, losing to #2 seed Ball State, 61-58. The lowest seed to ever win the tournament is the fourth seed - Eastern Michigan defeated Miami (#7), 92-77, in 1998, and Ball State knocked off EMU (#3), 77-70, in 1995.
Senior forward Marvin Black (Cleveland, Ohio) has played extremely well over the last nine games, five of which were wins for the Thundering Herd. In those nine contests, he is averaging 19.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, while also notching a new career-high with 30-point efforts against Western Michigan and Ball State.
The game will not be televised, and can be heard on the ISP/Thundering Herd Radio Network on 20 stations. Steve Cotton and Woody Woodrum will provide the play-by-play and color commentary.
