Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Hosts East Carolina Saturday Night
2/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2010
HUNTINGTON, W.Va.--Marshall University (15-7, 4-4 C-USA) hosts East Carolina (7-15, Feb. 6 in the Cam Henderson Center. The game will be televised on the Thundering Herd/ISP Network. The network is comprised of WSAZ in Huntington/Charleston, WTAP in Parkersburg, and WITN in Greeville, N.C. WSAZ Sports Director Keith Morehouse will do the play-by-play with Charlie Hagley handling the color commentary.
Marshall and East Carolina are playing for the 14th time with the Herd eading the all-time series 9-4. Marshall defeated the Pirates 83-65 Jan. 9 in Greenville for the Herd's fourth straight victory in the series.
The Pirates are tied for 11th in Conference USA (with Rice) at 1-7 in league play. ECU is 7-15 overall. The Pirates are led by Brock Young who is averaging 14.6 points and 6.0 assists per game. Young, the East Carolina point guard, scored 26 points the last time out against the Herd.
Jamar Abrams is coming off a 28-point effort in the 67-56 loss to UCF Tuesday night. He is now third on the team in scoring (11.5 ppg). Darrius Morrow is second on the team in scoring (12.8 ppg).
Tulsa defeated Marshall Feb. 3 in the Reynolds Center, 73-69. Leading 18-13 at the second media timeout of the first half, Marshall raced out of the break on a 11-1 run that was capped off by a Tyler Wilkerson (Sr., Lexington, Ky.) layup. With Marshall leading by 15 (29-14), Bishop Wheatley's free throw broke a over three-minute TU scoring drought.
Three Marshall turnovers in four possessions helped Tulsa regain a foothold in the game. Leading 31-23, Hassan Whiteside drained a 17-footer over fellow seven-footer Jerome Jordan for a 33-23 Marshall advantage. Justin Hurtt responded with a long jumper. Marshall led 33-23 entering the final media timeout of the first half. Tulsa got the lead under 10 again when out of the final media timeout of the half when Jordan, who was fouled by Whiteside, sank 1-of-2 free throws.
The Golden Hurricane chipped away at the MU advantage. Steven Idlet's jumper made it 35-28 with 1:24 to go in the first half. Marshall ended up with the ball for the final possession of the first half. Taking advantage of the situation, Shaquille Johnson (So., Jacksonville, Fla.) made a jumper from just inside the free throw line to allow the Herd to take a 37-28 lead into the halftime break.
Tulsa began the second half by outscoring the Herd 22-10. Wilkerson scored 11 straight Marshall points with his final effort tying the game 52-52 at 10:06. Haymon's putback gave MU a 54-52 lead a little under a minute later. A TU turnover led to Haymon being fouled on a fastbreak. His free throws gave Marshall a four-point advantage. Bryson Pope's three-point play on the next Tulsa possession created a one-point game. Tirrell Baines, making his return to the floor after injury and illness, was fouled on a bucket, but he missed the free throw, leaving the game 58-55 Marshall. The Herd got out on a fast break after a Tulsa miss. Johnson found Chris Lutz (R-Sr., Bedford, N.H.) for a wide open three-pointer resulting in a 61-55 lead.
Just before the third media timeout of the closing frame, Jordan was fouled by Hassan Whiteside (Gastonia, N.C.) going up for layup, sending the freshman to the bench with his fourth foul. Jordan's eighth and ninth free throw attempts of the night were good, making it 61-57. Marshall turned the ball over resulting in Jordan getting the ball down low. He was fouled and he both attempts from the charity stripe. Jordan picked up his fourth foul when he hit Tirrell Baines (So., Laurens, S.C.) going up for a shot. Baines made the first free throw attempt, but missed the second, giving the Herd a three-point lead (62-59).
Baines fouled Idlet. The 6-10 sophomore made the front end of the 1-and-1 attempt and hit on the second. Leading by one, Lutz missed a three-pointer and the ball went off a Herd player, giving the Golden Hurricane the ball. Jordan put TU back into the lead with a short jumper. The Herd turned it over and fouled Ben Uzoh who made the steal. Uzoh's made the front end of the 1-and-1. Uzoh missed the second, giving Tulsa a 64-62 lead. With the shot clock winding down, Darryl Merthie's (Sr., Sanford, Fla.) three-point attempt from 30 feet out was good, returning the lead to the Herd at 65-64.
Marshall worked the ball into Wilkerson into the paint where he was fouled at the 2:17 mark. The 10th TU foul resulted in two free throw attempts for the 6-8 forward. Wilkerson connected on both for a three-point Herd advantage. With 1:41 remaining, Pope was fouled on a putback and he made the free throw to tie the game 67-67. 17 seconds later, a Wilkerson jumper from five-feet out gave the Herd a 69-67 lead.
The Golden Hurricane called timeout with 65 ticks remaining, setting up a play for Uzoh who tied the game with a 19-foot jump shot. Marshall called a 30-second timeout with 41 seconds remaining. The Herd couldn't inbound the ball and were forced to call timeout. Wilkerson missed a 17-foot jumper with Whiteside fouling Jordan on the rebound, sending the Kingston, Jamaica native to the free throw line. Jordan made both attempts for a 71-69 lead. The Herd did not call timeout. Johnson's layup attempt blocked, the rebound found Jordan and his dunk made it the final 73-69.
Wilkerson reset his career high with 26 points. Whiteside was the only other MU player in double figures with 10. He blocked five shots.
