Marshall University Athletics
@HerdMBB Dominates Second Half, Defeats Western Carolina
11/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - An 18-0 run during the opening stages of the second half propelled the Marshall men's basketball team to a 98-63 win over the Western Carolina Catamounts Saturday evening at the Cam Henderson Center.
Marshall improved to 3-0 for the second time in the last three seasons with the win. Western Carolina dropped to 1-3 with the loss.
Jon Elmore scored in double-figures for the third straight game to open the season, leading all scorers with 22. Elmore also had six assists and four rebounds. Austin Loop added 17 points and Terrence Thompson had 16 points and seven rebounds. Aleksa Nikolic set a season high with eight points off the bench.
The Herd opened the contest by scoring the first five points on a layup by Thompson and a three-pointer by Elmore. Western Carolina responded with five straight points to tie the game with 18:15 to go in the half. The Herd jumped out to another five-point lead on a Thompson layup and a Loop three-pointer, but the Catamounts responded once again with a three-pointer by Deriece Parks and a pair of Devin Peterson free throws to tie the game at 12. The Herd re-took the lead with just under 15 minutes to go before halftime and never relinquished it for the duration of the game. Marshall had another five-point lead after Nikolic hit a jumper and Browning connected on a pair of free throws.
The Herd continued to hold a five-point lead after Phil Bledsoe knocked down a pair of free throws with just over seven minutes to go in the half. The Herd's first double-digit lead came with 5:17 to go in the half when Elmore made a layup. The Herd did not score another basket until Loop drained another three-pointer with 1:48 remaining in the half. Peterson's jumper just before the buzzer cut Western Carolina's deficit to 40-32 at the half.
The Catamounts hit the first basket of the second half on a Charlendez Brooks jumper to cut Marshall's lead to 41-34, but would not score again until there was 14:21 left in the game, as the Herd went on an 18-0 run to stretch its lead to 25. Elmore had six points, Ryan Taylor had five points, Thompson had four points and Loop had three points during the Herd's 18-0 run.
A dunk and a layup by Thompson extended Marshall's lead to 63-37 with 13:33 to go in the contest. Another three-pointer by Loop and a layup by Ajdin Penava extended Marshall's lead to 71-44 with 9:48 remaining in the game. Elmore converted a three-point play with 7:38 to go in the game to put Marshall up 77-49.
Nikolic put the Herd over 80 points for the third consecutive game to open the season on a layup with 5:50 left in the contest. Marshall's first 30-point lead of the game came with just under four minutes to go in the game, as Browning converted on a three-point play to put the Herd up 87-57. Bledsoe's first three-pointer as a member of the Herd put Marshall up 90-57 with 3:35 remaining in the game.
Four straight points by Nikolic and a three-pointer by Jacob Kilgore put the Herd up 98-59. Marshall closed out the game with a 98-63 win over the visiting Catamounts.
COACH'S CORNER
Quotes from head coach Dan D'Antoni
Opening Statement
"Hats off to [Western Carolina] and good luck to them. I thought in the first half we came out flat. At half I gave them a warning, not a pep talk. We got back to playing and establishing who we are. In the second half we rebuilt our brand. We are good individual players when we play as a team. We're better than good if we play as a team. Second half we were much better at moving the ball, setting the pace, and being athletic with the ball."
On establishing a winning culture
"You have to establish winning. We're on the road to it, but by far we have not established winning in the locker room to where it comes year after year after year. We're building that brand, but it never goes on a straight line. First half it was a little down, then things turned around."
On getting to the foul line 62 times the past two games
"Ball movement gives you an edge. The defense has to catch up, and when they have to catch up, they foul. If we move quickly, the ball will get you an edge. Then we have to take advantage of that. All the pieces have to go at one time, we play as a group."
PLAYER QUOTES
No. 1 junior forward Terrence Thompson
On getting Western Carolina's post players in foul trouble
"It helped us a lot. Once the bigs got in foul trouble, they went small, which gave our bigs the opportunity to get offensive rebounds and putbacks. It created mismatches in our favor on the offensive end when we set pick-and-rolls, so overall I think it helped a lot."
No. 33 junior guard Jon Elmore
On the game
"We were flat in the first half. Coach D'Antoni got on us at halftime. The ball stuck a lot and we weren't running our stuff the way we usually do. We execute a lot better than that. We ended up putting 98 points up so we started doing something right in the second half. It was definitely good to get going and establish that identity in the second half and execute down the stretch."
No. 35 senior guard Austin Loop
On the intensity from the first half to the second half
"We came out soft to start the first half. All the coaches were on us before the game about establishing our identity and coming out strong. We didn't do that. The coaches harped on that at halftime and emphasized that so we knew we had to do that. We came out with a lot more energy in the second half defensively and offensively."
On the ball movement
"When we move the ball effectively, we're at our best. When we move the ball, it's hard to guard and our starting five can do everything. Terrence [Thompson] and Ryan [Taylor] can step out and make a three, they can set screens, they can move, they can shoot. It's tough to guard when the ball is moving and you have guys with skill sets like that."
POST-GAME NOTES:
- Tonight's contest was the 44th between the Herd and Catamounts. Marshall holds a 31-13 lead in the series.
- Marshall improved to 21-4 against Western Carolina at the Cam Henderson Center.
- Western Carolina has not beaten Marshall in Huntington since winning 73-69 on Feb. 12, 1994 when the Herd was a member of the Southern Conference.
- Marshall improved to 3-0 for the second time in Dan D'Antoni's three seasons as head coach of the Herd. The Herd was 3-0 in D'Antoni's inaugural season in 2014-15.
- The Herd is now 3-0 when leading at the half this season. Marshall led 40-32 at halftime of tonight's game.
- Christian Thienemanm Jacob Kilgore, Ot Elmore and Milan Mijovic each saw their first minutes of action this season tonight.
- Terrence Thompson scored in double-figures for the second time this season and the third time in his career.
- Jon Elmore has scored in double-figures in all three games this season.
- Austin Loop set season-highs with five three-pointers made and 17 points.
- The Herd has had at least one player score 20 or more points in each game this season (Thompson vs. NCCU, Browning vs. Morehead St., Elmore tonight).
- Aleksa Nikolic set a season-high with eight points.
- The Herd had 22 assists tonight compared to just 12 for the Catamounts.
- Marshall never trailed at any point during the game.
- Marshall has scored 80-plus points in every game this season (81 vs. NCCU, 85 vs. Morehead St., 98 tonight)
- Milan Mijovic scored his first points of the season tonight. He finished with three.
- Jacob Kilgore scored his first points of the season tonight, hitting a three-pointer with 1:06 remaining in the second half.
- The Herd won the rebounding battle, 50-44.
- Marshall held Western Carolina to a shooting percentage of 30.1 percent, including 25.6 percent in the second half.
#STAMPEDE16
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UP NEXT
The Herd wraps up its four-game homestand Monday night when it takes on Jackson State. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
