Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Men On The Road At Tulsa
1/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2006
Marshall GameNotes
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TULSA, Okla. - Marshall and Tulsa will meet for the first time on the hardwood Wednesday evening when the Golden Hurricane host the Thundering Herd at Reynolds Center. Tip-off is set for 8:05 EST.
Although this will be the first meeting between the two schools, Marshall head coach Ron Jirsa is quite familiar with the Golden Hurricane. He was an assistant coach with Tulsa under J.D. Barnett from 1985-88, and then again under Tubby Smith from 1991-95. Jirsa helped lead the Golden Hurricane to four NCAA Tournaments during his tenure. Tulsa, like the Thundering Herd, is in its first year in Conference USA. The Golden Hurricane played in the WAC in 2004-05.
Tulsa enters Wednesday's game 6-9, 1-1 in Conference USA, and in their last time out, the Golden Hurricane got their first C-USA win over Southern Miss, 72-63, at Reynolds Center. Brett McDade leads Tulsa in scoring, averaging 11.6 points per game. Anthony Price and Darold Crow also score in double-digits, averaging 11.5 and 10.3 points per contest, respectively. Charles Ramsdell leads the Golden Hurricane on the glass, averaging 6.3 rebounds per game. Tulsa head coach Doug Wojcik is in his first season with the Golden Hurricane.
In the Herd's last time out, Marshall fell to 7-7, 1-1 in conference play after dropping a 76-64 decision to UAB January 11 in the Henderson Center. MU had a hard time stopping the Blazers in its Conference USA home opener - UAB shot 54.0% from the field and 85% from the free throw line (also 12 made free throws in a row to end the game). The Herd only committed 16 turnovers and forced UAB into 21 giveaways, but could not take advantage of 10 more shot opportunities. Travis Aikens (Orlando, Fla.) led Marshall for the second consecutive game in scoring with 16 points.
Aikens has paced the Herd in scoring in the last two contests. In his homecoming game against UCF, he led Marshall with 17 points. He is averaging 12.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, second only to Mark Patton in both categories for the Herd. Patton is averaging 14.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest.
With the Herd's win over UCF, Marshall has won two consecutive road games, the first time since the 2003-04 season a Herd team has done that. That year, MU defeated UAB on December 30, 2003, and then defeated Central Michigan at Rose Arena on January 3rd. Marshall has not won three in a row on the road since the 2001-02 season, when the Herd knocked off Winthrop, Radford, and Western Michigan in December of 2001.
Tip-off for the game is set for 8:05 EST, and can be heard live regionally on the ISP/Thundering Herd Network. It can also be heard live on the Internet at www.HerdZone.com.
