Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Hosts Tulane For First Time In Henderson Center
2/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2007
Marshall Game Notes in PDF Format
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Tulane Game Notes in PDF Format
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HUNTINGTON - The Thundering Herd men's basketball team plays Tulane for the second time this season when the Green Wave visit Henderson Center for a 7 p.m. tip Saturday night.
Marshall beat SMU in its last time out, 52-49, behind Mark Dorris' (Cincinnati, Ohio) 14 point performance and a double-double by Markel Humphrey (Ellenwood, Ga.) (11 points, 10 rebounds). The Herd and Mustangs struggled to put the ball in the basket for most of the night, and at the half, combined for only 36 points, the lowest combined total in the 26-year history of the Henderson Center.
Humphrey's double-double was the fourth of his career and the first of the 2006-07 campaign. He did most of his damage in the second half with nine points and nine rebounds. The ten boards was also the 6th time he has had double-digit rebounds in a game, and the second time this season (10, Robert Morris, 11/17).
SMU led by eight points midway through the second half, but Marshall put together an 18-1 run to turn away the Mustangs. The Herd survived a late three-point attempt by SMU's Dez Willingham to come away with the win.
The Herd limited the Mustangs to 28.1% shooting, and only 26.7% from beyond the arc. Marshall made 36.2% of its shots from the floor, 15.8% from three, and 65.2% at the charity stripe, including 8-of-10 in the final 90 seconds of the game. In an interesting note, the Herd had the second-best defensive performance in the nation on Wednesday night (66 games). Only Colorado's 27.3% vs. Kansas was lower than SMU's percentage.
Humphrey leads Marshall in scoring at 14.0 (8th in C-USA) points per game and also leads the team on the glass with 6.4 rebounds (4th in C-USA) per contest. Mark Dorris is next for the Herd at 12.7 (17th) points per game, and senior forward Travis Aikens averages 10.8 (23rd) points per game.
In the first game between the two teams, Humphrey led four Marshall players in double figures with 20 points in a 79-73 win over Tulane at Fogelman Arena in New Orleans.
The Herd led by as many as 15 in the game, but the Green Wave mustered a comeback in the second half, and held a seven point lead of its own, 55-48, with 10:55 to play. The Tulane reemergence came after Marshall took a commanding lead in the first half, firing in 61.5% of its shots and 66.7% of its shots from beyond the arc. The Herd led by 13, 39-26 at the break, and saw its biggest lead of the game 30 seconds into the second period.
Tre Whitted (Wilmington, N.C.) put the Herd up for good on a three and a fade away hook shot in the lane late in the game after a Jean Francois Bro Grebe (Abidjan, Ivory Coast) miss as the shot clock expired, which gave the Herd a lead it would never relinquish.
Marshall and Tulane will meet for the fourth time in the history of the two schools, and for the second time this season. The Herd knocked off the Green Wave, 79-73, on Jan. 20 at Fogelman Arena, for its only road league win of the season.
The Herd dropped a 61-36 decision on Feb. 4, 2006, in New Orleans, and a 64-58 game in Memphis in the first round of the C-USA Tournament on Mar. 8 last season.
Tulane enters the game with a 12-11 record, 5-6 in league play, and has won three out of its last four games, including an 86-80 win over UCF Wednesday in New Orleans. David Gomez leads the Green Wave with a 13.9 scoring average, while also pulling down a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game. Guard Kevin Sims is next with 10.4 points per contest.
Tip-off is at 7 p.m. EST at Henderson Center. The game can be heard live regionally on the ISP/Thundering Herd Network or on the worldwide web at www.HerdZone.com. A live stream of the game is also available on www.HerdZone.com as a part of the Herd All-Access product offered by CSTV.
Fans in attendance will have a chance to win six Washington National box seats and two parking passes to any game of their choice (other than opening day), a promotion sponsored by Yellowbook. Also, the four newly inducted members of the Sports Medicine Hall of Fame - John Messinger, Dr. William Sheils, Dr. Jack Steel, and Scott Street - will be honored at the game.
