Marshall University Athletics
Thundering Herd Men's Basketball Hosts Tulsa Wednesday Night
2/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2010
HUNTINGTON, W.Va.--Marshall University (18-7, 6-4 C-USA) hosts Tulsa (19-6, 8-3 C-USA) Feb. 17 in the Henderson Center. Tulsa defeated Marshall 73-69 Feb. 3 in Tulsa. Marshall and Tulsa are playing for the ninth time with the Golden Hurricane leading the all-time series 6-2. Tulsa has won four in a row in the series dating back to Jan. 30, 2008 when Marshall defeated TU 72-65 in overtime in Huntington.
TU's center Jerome Jordan became the Conference USA career blocked shots record-holder with his one blocked shot against Southern Miss. His 320 blocks broke the previous record of 314 was held by East Carolina's Moussa Badiane (2002-05).
Jordan is second on the team in scoring (15.2) and leads the team in rebounding (8.2). Senior guard Ben Uzoh is Tulsa's leading scorer (15.6 ppg). Both Jordan and Uzoh have scored 1,000 points in their respective careers. Justin Hurtt is third on the squad in scoring as he is averaging 13.9 points per game.
Tyler Wilkerson (Sr., Lexington, Ky.) scored a career high 28 points and posted his 15th career double-double with 10 rebounds as Marshall defeated UAB Feb. 13 in Birmingham.
A sluggish first half saw the game tied seven times with the team exchanging the lead on four other occasions. The Herd held the Blazers to nine first half field goals, 36% field-goal shooting, and took a 29-26 advantage into the break. Marshall opened the second half on a 16-6 run to take their largest lead of the game 45-32 with 12:56 remaining. MU led by 11, 47-36, with 11:22 to go when Elijah Millsap scored six points during a 11-3 UAB spurt that got the Blazers to within three.
UAB continued to pursue Marshall and cut the lead to one (56-55) when Aaron Johnson made 1-of-2 free throws at the 7:08 mark. The Thundering Herd responded with an 8-1 run that was capped off by a Wilkerson field goal. The Blazers would get to within two when Jamarr Sanders connected on a three-pointer shortly before the final media timeout of the second half.
Marshall came out of the break in the action with a 10-2 spurt that made it 74-64 with exactly 60 seconds left. The Blazers extended the game as Johnson and Millsaps made field goals. UAB fouled the Herd down the stretch in an effort to keep the game alive. Damier Pitts (So., Charlotte, N.C.) was 4-for-4 while Wilkerson was 3-of-4 from the charity stripe over the final 39 seconds as the Herd won by the final 81-74.
The teams combined for 44 fouls which led to 66 combined free throws. The Herd went 30-of-36 from the charity stripe while the Blazers were 22-of-30 from the line. Marshall was 9-of-11 from the free throw line in the final minute of the contest.
Wilkerson went 7-of-12 from the floor and made a career high 13 free throws in a career high 15 free throw attempts. Wilkerson made two assists, blocked two shots, and made one steal. Pitts scored 11 points and dished out six assists. Hassan Whiteside (Fr., Gastonia, N.C.) scored 10 points, had eight rebounds, and blocked four shots. Dago Pena (So., Punta Gorda, Fla.) came off the bench to score 10 points.
