Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Hosts Brescia Wednesday Night
12/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 15, 2009
HUNTINGTON, W.Va.--The Marshall University men's basketball team hosts NAIA Brescia University Wednesday night in the Cam Henderson Center. This is the first time that Marshall and Brescia will meet in men's basketball. Wednesday night's game begins a seven-day stretch in which the Herd will play three times (Dec. 16-Brescia, Dec. 20-High Point, Dec. 22-at North Carolina). The game will serve as an exhibition for Brescia while it will count towards the Herd overall record.
It also marks the first time that the Thundering Herd is playing a team from the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Bearcats improved to 7-5 Monday night with a 82-77 victory over Lindsey Wilson College. Brescia was led by Andrew Howard who had 32 points including a field goal with a minute to play that put Brescia up for good. Anthony Ingram scored 20 points in only his second game of the season. Ingram has scored 45 points in two games this season. Howard is averaging 20.3 points per game this season while shooting almost 50% from the field (85-of-171, 49.7). Andrea Sharp is averaging 13.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Aaron Tandy is also averaging in double figures (10.2 ppg).
Senior forward Tyler Wilkerson led five Marshall players in double figures as the Thundering Herd defeated Troy University 99-70 Dec. 12 in the Cam Henderson Center. Wilkerson paced the Herd as he scored 19 points. The 6-8 Lexington, Ky. native shot 8-for-12 from the floor, added five rebounds and blocked two shots. Marshall connected on eight of its first 11 shots to jump out to a 26-9 advantage over the Trojans. The Herd continued the fine shooting, going 20-of-37 in the first half (54.1%) and took a 56-31 lead into the break. MU had 13 assists in the first half and no turnovers. A brief Troy spurt early in the second half got the Marshall lead down to 61-44 just before the first media timeout of the closing frame. The Thundering Herd responded with another run, 16-5, that pushed the lead to 28, 77-49. The Trojans would get no closer than 27 in the second half with the Herd taking its biggest lead of the game, 33, on a Wilkerson jumper at the 4:440 mark. MU shot 50.7% for the game (35-of-69) and for the second time in the past three games, Marshall made 13 three-pointers in a game. The Thundering Herd made 50% of their three-point attempts (13-of-26).
Marshall point guard Damier Pitts (So., Charlotte, N.C.) made 4-of-5 three-pointers as he scored a season high 16 points. Pitts also dished out seven assists and grabbed four rebounds. Tirrell Baines (Jr., Laurens, S.C.) was 4-of-5 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line for 15 points. Shaquille Johnson (So., Jacksonville, Fla.) went 5-of-7 from the field for 13 points. Johnson charted five assists. Hassan Whiteside (Fr., Gastonia, N.C.) posted his third double-double of the year as he scored 11 points and nabbed 12 rebounds. Whiteside blocked five shots.
Marshall is 7-1 for the first time since the 2000-01 season. The 2000-01 edition of the Thundering Herd went 18-9. The Herd have won five in a row, the longest winning streak for the cagers since the 2001-02 season (five-Nov. 26-Dec. 8, 2001).
