Tulane Holds Off Marshall, 73-65

Feb. 17, 2007

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HUNTINGTON - Tulane's Chris Moore and Daniel Puckett each scored 17 points to lead the Green Wave past the Thundering Herd, 73-65, in Conference USA action at Henderson Center Saturday night. Tulane evened the season series at one after Marshall won at Fogelman Arena in New Orleans on January 20.

Tulane improves to 13-11, 6-6 in league action, while the Thundering Herd drops to 10-16, 5-7 in Conference USA play.

Tulane took the lead for good at the 5:37 mark on two Chris Moore free throws to make the score 57-56 after the game had featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes. However, the action got interesting at the 3:44 mark in the second half, when Tulane's Donnie Stith missed a layup and battled with the Herd's Travis Aikens (Orlando, Fla.) for the rebound. Stith and Aikens got tangled up, and a scrum ensued on the north baseline on the side of the Tulane bench. As both teams were being separated, it appeared the Green Wave had seven players on the floor, but after conferring and reviewing the action on the courtside monitor, officials ruled that there was no infraction and play resumed. At the time of the incident, Tulane held a 60-58 advantage.

Over the next three minutes, the Green Wave scored seven of the next ten points to go ahead 67-61. Marshall never got closer than four points the rest of the way.

Both teams had trouble holding on to the basketball, combining for a total of 40 turnovers - Tulane had 22, while the Herd had 18. Marshall scored 19 points off of those turnovers, while Tulane turned in 11 points. For the game, the Green Wave shot 45.5% from the floor (25-55), 38.5% from three (5-13), and 72.0% from the charity stripe. Marshall shot 35.4% from the floor (23-65), 21.4% from three (3-14), and 61.5% from the free throw line (16-26).

"We didn't pass the ball in the lane and couldn't come up with stops when we needed it," said Marshall head coach Ron Jirsa. "They got the ball inside late in the game and we couldn't stop them."

Tulane was led by Moore and Puckett, who scored 17 points each. Donnie Stith added 10 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks for the Green Wave. David Gomez and guard Andrew Garcia led Tulane with eight rebounds.

"This was another great road win for us," said Tulane head coach Dave Dickerson. "One thing we have done this year is play well on the road. We don't have a lot of wins, but we've played well. We're excited to get the win and to 6-6 in the league.

Humphrey and Dorris led the way with 15 points, while Aikens added 12 points and a game-high seven rebounds.

"It's always tough to beat a team twice," said Humphrey. "They played hard and physical, and hit shots at the end of the game."

The Herd hits the road for another two-game swing with games at East Carolina and UAB. The game with the Pirates is slated for a 7 p.m. start Wednesday night in Greenville, N.C.

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Players Mentioned

Travis Aikens

Marshall University Athletics