Marshall University Athletics
BOGACZYK: Kelly Closing in on Exclusive @HerdMBB Club
3/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By JACK BOGACZYK
HERDZONE.COM COLUMNIST
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - James Kelly is on the verge of reaching a very special club in Marshall men's basketball history.
In fact, the club has only one member.
That said, he's more interested in the potential to reach postseason play with the Herd.
With Marshall (15-14, 11-5 Conference USA) playing host to Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss on Thursday and Saturday nights, respectively, Kelly needs 12 points and 11 rebounds for a 600/300 season for the Herd.
"Six hundred and 300; what's that?" Kelly replied when the two numbers were mentioned to him prior to practice Tuesday.
Told the distinction, Kelly said he wasn't expecting that in his final collegiate after transferring from Miami (Fla.) and sitting out 2014-15 at Marshall.
"Basically, I get I expected just to average double figures in rebounds and hopefully double figures in points, but really I came here to let my game play for itself," the 6-foot-8 Kelly said. "I really wasn't worried about my stats. I was just trying to win more games than we did last season (11), when I sat out."
When Kelly gets to 600 and 300, he will join Russell Lee as the only players in Herd history to put up those numbers in a single season. The 6-5 Lee, the No. 6 overall pick in the 1972 NBA Draft by Milwaukee, did it twice.
In 1970-71, Lee scored 659 points to go with 322 rebounds. The following year - his senior season -- Lee posted 602 and 323.
In NCAA Division I this season, only one player has reached the 600/300 combination. New Mexico State's 6-9 sophomore, Pascal Siakam, has 618 and 354.
Another player likely to get there besides Kelly is LSU star freshman Ben Simmons. He's already there on the boards (343), and needs only 32 points to get to 600. Toledo senior big man Nathan Boothe is at 557 and 260. LSU and Toledo had games scheduled Tuesday night.
Those are the only players in the top 50 in scoring and rebounding nationally that are close to the 600/300 combination at this point.
Kelly, at 588 and 289 and ranked in the top 25 nationally in scoring and rebound average (20.3 and 10.0), said the former number came out of nowhere.
"Yeah, I actually am surprised at the scoring," he said. "I wasn't expecting it was going to be like it is, and that as a team and that we'd run like we have, with our offense. I'm pretty happy things have been going this way. We've improved a lot and I've been playing well for the most part."
Kelly, poised to become Marshall's first All-C-USA first team selection and in contention for Player of the Year honors, too, has scored in double figures every game. He has 13 double-doubles, including the first 20-20 game for Marshall in 43 years (27 and 23 in a home win over Charlotte).
"It comes down to energy," Kelly said when asked about his consistency. "Some games, I get a little tired and I've got to understand that mentally and put in more effort.
"This is the real test, right now. We had difficult games in the beginning of the season (an 0-6 start), but now we're closing down the schedule and it's buckle-down time and time to get the job done."
If the Herd sweeps its final two home dates, Marshall clinches the No. 2 seed behind regular-season champ UAB for the March 8-12 C-USA Tournament in Birmingham, Ala. A win Thursday over Tech (22-7, 11-5) will at least give the Herd one of the four byes into the quarterfinals in the bracket.
Marshall, LaTech and Middle Tennessee (19-9, 11-5) are in a three-way tie for second place, with Old Dominion (17-12, 10-6) in fifth place.
After playing seven of nine conference games on the road in a span from mid-January to mid-February, Kelly said it's good to be home - where the Herd is 9-3, 6-1 in league play - for these crucial contests.
"Hopefully, we'll get these final two and clinch second (place), and go into the conference tournament with some confidence," he said.
# # #
Marshall never has beaten Louisiana Tech, and the Bulldogs will be making only their second trip to Huntington.
In December 1984, Tech won the Marshall Memorial Invitational with a 69-63 victory over the Herd. You may have heard of the Bulldogs' senior who was the tournament MVP - Karl "The Mailman" Malone, who scored 20 points in the final.
Both of those teams reached the NCAA Tournament at season's end.
Tech finished 29-3, won the Southland Conference title and reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen where it lost to Oklahoma in overtime. The Sooners then fell in the regional finals to Memphis State, coached by Marshall alumnus and Logan native Dana Kirk, who had played football and basketball for the Herd in the late '50s.
The '84-85 Herd was Coach Rick Huckabay's second straight NCAA entrant after a Southern Conference Tournament title, falling to VCU in a first-round game in "The Pit" in Albuquerque, N.M.
Louisiana Tech is the only current C-USA member the Herd hasn't beaten.
# # #
Marshall is seeking its highest regular-season standings finish and highest tournament seed in its 11 seasons in C-USA. The 2009-10 team finished in a third-place tie (behind UTEP and Memphis, and tied with UAB) and received a No. 4 tournament seed ââ'¬Â¦ and the only bye the Herd has achieved in the previous 10 years.
Marshall has advanced past the quarterfinals only once - in 2011-12, when Coach Tom Herrion's No. 6 seed won three times before losing the championship game to host Memphis.
Here's a look at Marshall's performance in 11 years in C-USA (current season entering Thursday's games):
Year Regular season Tournament
W-L Home Road Teams Place Seed, finish
2015-16 11-5 6-1 5-4 14 t-2nd ???
2014-15 7-11 6-3 1-8 14 t-11th 12, lost first round (0-1)
2013-14 4-12 2-6 2-6 16 t-14th 14, lost second round (1-1)
2012-13 6-10 5-3 1-7 12 t-9th 9, lost first round (0-1)
2011-12 9-7 6-2 3-5 12 t-5th 6, lost title game (3-1)
2010-11 9-7 6-2 3-5 12 t-5th 6, lost quarterfinals (1-1)
2009-10 11-5 5-3 6-2 12 t-3rd 4, bye, lost quarterfinals (0-1)
2008-09 7-9 6-2 1-7 12 t-6th 7, lost first round (0-1)
2007-08 8-8 5-3 3-5 12 t-6th 8, lost first round (0-1)
2006-07 7-9 5-3 2-6 12 t-8th 8, lost quarterfinals (1-1)
2005-06 5-9 3-4 2-5 12 t-9th 9, lost first round (0-1)
