Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Heads To UAB Saturday
2/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2010
HUNTINGTON, W.Va.--Marshall University (17-7, 5-4 C-USA) heads to UAB (19-4, 7-2 C-USA) for a rematch Feb. 12 in Birmingham, Ala. UAB defeated Marshall 61-59 Jan. 23 in Huntington. The Thundering Herd and Blazers are playing for the 13th time with UAB leading the all-time series 8-4. The Blazers have won four in a row since Jan. 19, 2008 when MU defeated UAB 62-57 in Huntington.
The Blazers are 19-4 overall and are coming off a 76-65 victory at Rice last Saturday. Aaron Johnson, who is playing with a broken nose, scored a game high 28 points against the Owls. Elijah Millsap is UAB's leading scorer and rebounder as he is averaging 16.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Millsap, a junior guard, not only leads the conference in rebounding at 9.3 rpg, but he is also the only guard ranked among the nation's top 50 rebounders (39th). Howard Crawford is second on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) while Jamarr Sanders is averaging 11.3 points per game. Johnson is now scoring in double figures (10.2).
Marshall had seven players score in double figures, led by a career-high 18 points from Dago Pena (So., Puenta Gorda, Fla.) to defeat NAIA Division I Rio Grande, 115-73 Feb. 9 inside the Cam Henderson Center. Pena made 7-of-13 shots and grabbed six rebounds as the Herd upped its record to 17-7 on the season. Chris Lutz (R-Sr., Bedford, N.H.) and Tirrell Baines (Jr., Laurens, S.C.) each poured in 16 points apiece. Lutz made 6-of-7 attempts from the field, along with a perfect 4-for-4 on 3-pointers, while Baines tallied a double-double with 11 rebounds.
Hassan Whiteside (Fr., Gastonia, N.C.) (15), Antonio Haymon (Jr., Washington, D.C.) (13), Damier Pitts (So., Charlotte, N.C.) (11) and Shaquille Johnson (So., Jacksonville, Fla.) (10) rounded out the double-digit point scorers. Whiteside added nine rebounds and five blocks, with Pitts dishing out nine assists. Leading 11-8 at the 15:30 mark in the opening half, MU embarked on an 11-0 spurt including a pair of baskets from Pena to extend the early advantage to double digits at 12:49.
The Red Storm continued to hang around, utilizing a 13-4 rally, which included three-straight buckets to get within in six, 28-22, with 9:55 left. The Herd would answer back after a Whiteside slam dunk from Damier Pitts highlighted an 8-0 run to put MU up, 34-22. Rio Grande charged back to only trail by five points, 38-33, thanks to a 9-2 scoring rally. Lutz scored eight of the Herd's final 10 points of the first half, to put MU up 53-39 heading into the locker room.
Over the first seven minutes of the second half a 29-7 Herd scoring outburst took place, quieting the Red Storm to hold an 82-46 lead and put the game out of striking distance. During the seven-minute span, Lutz sank three shots, including two from behind the arc. With 7:47 left in the contest, Noah Fischer (Fr., Ripley, W.Va.) drained a three-pointer from the corner to help MU reach the "Century City" mark for the fifth time this season at 100-59. Bobby Horodyski (Fr., Gainesville, Fla.) buried a trey at the top of the key with 38 seconds left to cap of the scoring for the Herd and bring the game tally to the final score, 115-73.
Marshall has scored at least 100 points five times this season. The five 100-point games are the most in a single season by a MU squad since 1995-96 when the Herd scored at least 100 points six times. The school record for most 100 points in a season is 10 which occured during the 1971-72 campaign.
