Marshall University Athletics
Thundering Herd Hosts Southern Miss Tuesday Night
1/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2010
HUNTINGTON, W.Va.--Marshall University (11-2) opens the Conference USA slate by hosting Southern Miss (9-4) Tuesday night in the Cam Henderson Center. The all-time series between the Thundering Herd and the Golden Eagles is tied 4-4. Southern Miss has won three in a row including a 84-79 decision last season in Hattiesburg.
Southern Miss is coming off a 82-46 defeat at the hands of Vanderbilt Jan. 2 in Nashville, Tenn. At 9-4, Southern Miss is led by Gary Flowers who is the team's leading scorer (14.8) and rebounder (8.8). Maurice Bolden is second on the team in both scoring (12.4) and rebounding (7.1).
Golden Eagles' head coach Larry Eustachy is in his sixth season and has evened his record to 84-84 at the helm. In his 20th overall season as a collegiate head coach, Eustachy is 344-329.
Hassan Whiteside (Fr., Gastonia, N.C.) overcame early foul trouble to record his seventh double-double of the season to lead Marshall (11-2) past St. Bonaventure (7-6) 80-61 in Jan. 2 men's basketball action at the Cam Henderson Center. The 7-foot freshman played only four minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls. Whiteside was whistled for his third foul 50 seconds into the second half, but the Gastonia, N.C. native scored 15 of his 17 points and grab 11 of his 12 rebounds in the closing frame. Whiteside was not called for another foul in the contest.
Marshall led 39-30 at halftime, but used a 19-6 run to start the second half to take their largest lead of the game, 23 points (59-36) at the 11:02 mark. The Thundering Herd held the Bonnies to 2-of-19 shooting during the span. St. Bonaventure worked the Herd lead down to 69-59 with 2:53 to go, but Marshall responded with an 8-2 spurt that put the game away. Whiteside, the Conference USA leader in blocked shots, swatted away six Bonnies' attempts. He also made a season high five free throws (5-of-6) and recorded a steal. Whiteside raised his season blocks' total to 65, tying him with Jean Francois Bro Grebe (2006-07) for the second most in a single season by a Herd player. Whiteside is now 11th in Marshall school history for career blocks.
Dago Pena (So., Punta Gorda, Fla.) and Shaquille Johnson (So., Jacksonville, Fla.) each scored 11 for the Thundering Herd. Tyler Wilkerson (Sr., Lexington, Ky.) recorded his third double-double in the past four games with 10 points and 12 rebounds. It is Wilkerson's 14th career double-double, the third most among active Conference USA players.
Marshall is off to the program's best start since the 1999-00 season when the Thundering Herd opened the year by winning the first 10 games of the season and was 13-2 at one point in the season. Marshall went 21-9 during the 1999-00 campaign.
