Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Tulane*
Lutz Rallies Marshall Past Tulane in Overtime
2/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2009
Huntington, W.Va. -
Marshall University's Chris Lutz scored 34 of his career-high 37 points in the second half and overtime to help erase Marshall's 13-point halftime deficit and lead the Thundering Herd to a dramatic 89-86 overtime win over Tulane Saturday in Conference USA men's basketball action at the Cam Henderson Center.
"I just got in a rhythm in the second half and all of my teammates were fighting hard to get us back in it," Lutz said. "We dug ourselves a hole early, but kept fighting."
Lutz hit 13-of-21 shots and was 7-of-12 from three point range in 39 minutes of action. The junior guard scored only three points in the first half and was a perfect 6-for-6 from three in the second half. His 37-point effort is the third highest single game effort in Conference USA this season and the highest single-game effort from a Marshall player since Ronald Blackshear scored 40 points at Eastern Michigan in 2003 (Feb. 3).
Marshall snapped a four-game skid with the win and improved to 10-13 overall and 3-6 in Conference USA. Tulane is now 9-13 and 3-6 in C-USA.
"I am really proud of this team and their effort tonight," Marshall Head Coach Donnie Jones said. "I can't say enough good things about the way Chris Lutz played tonight and the spark that Adam Williams and Shaquille Johnson provided this team down the stretch. I am also very proud of Markel Humphrey for battling down inside. This was a great team win."
Shaquille Johnson scored a career-high 22 points and dished out a team-high five assists, while Markel Humphrey added 18 points and five rebounds. Humphrey also added four assists and a pair of blocks. Marshall played the game without the team's leading scorer and rebounder Tyler Wilkerson who is out for the season after suffering a broken jaw in Marshall's game with Tulsa last Wednesday.
St. Albans native Adam Williams came off the bench and played a key role in Marshall's second-half rally. Williams played a career-high 22 minutes (all after the half), playing strong defense and scoring four points.
"Adam does what he does every day in practice. He plays hard and gives you all he has and he is one of the unsung heroes of this game," Jones said. Tulane had two players top the 20-point plateau in the game. Kevin Sims registered 23 and Robinson Louisme added 21 points. Tulane shot 60.4% from the field (32-53) and was 4-of-8 from three-point range in the game.
The Thundering Herd forced 19 turnovers, 11 after the break, and outscored the Green Wave 50-37 in the second half.
After taking a 4-0 lead to open the game, Marshall quickly fell behind and Tulane led by as much as 15 points in the first half. The Green Wave shot a blistering 65% from the field in the first half and hit three of four three-point shots to build the 39-26 halftime lead. Marshall did not take another lead until the overtime period.
Marshall battled back in the second half and cut the Tulane lead to one with 10:31 to go in the second half on a Markel Humphrey layup that capped a 12-5 MU run. Tulane would battle back and hold on to their lead, even building it to as much as eight points at the 2:52 mark. However, the Thundering Herd was not finished. MU limited Tulane to just two points in the remainder of regulation and Chris Lutz scored the final eight points of regulation play hitting two clutch three-pointer and a layup to tie the game with just 39 seconds to go. Following a missed layup by Tulane's Robinson Louisme with 11 seconds to go, Marshall drove down the floor and the Green Wave's Kris Richard blocked a potential-game winning layup by Shaquille Johnson to send the game to overtime.
Marshall built a six-point lead with 47-seconds to go in overtime when Tulane made one last run. Following a layup by Kris Richard that cut Marshall's lead down to 86-82, Tulane pressed off of the inbounds play causing Marshall's Johnson to commit an offensive foul and turn the ball over. Asim McQueen promptly connected on a jumper to make it 86-84 Marshall. Following a timeout, McQueen fouled MU's Lutz and put him on the line where he made just one of two foul shots with 27 seconds remaining in overtime.
Tulane's Kevin Sims netted a layup with just 17 seconds to go and Kris Richard stole Marshall's inbounds pass only to have Eric Cianney fire a three-point shot that missed with just nine seconds to go. Marshall then closed out the game with Shaquille Johnson hitting two-free throws after being fouled on an inbounds pass to produce the 89-86 final score.
