Marshall University Athletics
Thursday, November 1
Huntington, W.Va.
7:00 PM
Marshall University
83
vs
65
West Virginia Wesleyan College
1
2
F
West Va. Wesleyan
26
39
65
MARSHALL
39
44
83
Photo by: Rick Haye
Marshall Dunks West Virginia Wesleyan, 83-65
11/1/2018 9:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Thundering Herd rocks the rim 12 times
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall men's basketball team completed the exhibition portion of its 2018-19 schedule with an 83-65 win against Division II West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday night at the Henderson Center.
The Thundering Herd, which opens the regular season Wednesday at Eastern Kentucky, won both of its preseason tune-up games. Thursday's game, played in front of a crowd of 5,721, allowed fifth-year coach Dan D'Antoni a final evaluation of the defending Conference USA champions before the beginning of non-conference play.
"That was our first look at a zone (defense), so that helped us out," D'Antoni said. "We'll have good tape to show our kids where to go. We got a chance to play everybody. I felt good about our effort; our effort was much better than the first game, especially defensively. We still have some work to do."
Most of Marshall's production came on the inside against visiting Wesleyan. By the game's end, the Herd had scored 56 of its 83 points in the paint and shot 5 for 33 (15.2 percent) from 3-point range.
A pair of those 3-pointers came in the game's waning moments.
The scoring was balanced effort. Senior guard C.J. Burks and freshman guard Taevion Kinsey led the way with 10 points apiece. Senior guard Jon Elmore, senior guard Rondale Watson and sophomore forward Mikel Beyers each had 9 points.
Marshall's first exhibition game was a 113-108 win against Glenville State, so the Herd defense allowed 43 fewer points in Thursday's matchup.
"I thought the energy all-around was a lot better," Elmore said. "Communication was great on defense. We gave up about half as many points as we gave up last game … we got better. That was our goal with these two games, to see where we stood and see what we need to improve on. From game one to game two, there was definitely a jump. Hopefully from these two to the first real game it'll be a bigger jump. We're fired up. We're excited."
But this was not a typical Marshall offensive performance. Before those late 3s by walk-on Luke Thomas (6 points in three minutes of action), the Herd was 3 for 30 (10 percent) from 3-point range.
"I think we were 1 for 19 at half," Elmore said. "The way we play that's not normally what we do."
Still, Wesleyan never threatened in the second half, and the Herd led by as many as 21 points with eight seconds left.
A total of 14 different players scored for Marshall. True freshman Cam Brooks-Harris led the way with seven rebounds. Elmore had a team-high seven of the team's 22 assists. Sophomore Jarrod West, Elmore, Watson and Brooks-Harris each had two steals. Marshall outrebounded Wesleyan, 44-34, and forced the visitors into 24 turnovers.
Marshall finished with 12 dunks to its five 3-pointers.
The statistical difference in Marshall's usual production started to show in the first half. While the Herd struggled from 3-point range – MU missed 18 of 19 from beyond the arc in the first half – the team scored 34 of its 39 first-half points in the paint, many on dunks and put-backs against a smaller Wesleyan team. Marshall's first seven field goals were from inside the paint, and the first 3 did not come until 10:53 left of the first half.
Burks ended the 3-point drought to make it 17-9, Marshall, after the Herd missed its first nine 3-point attempts. During that drought, though, MU went on a 12-0 run over a four-minute, 32-second span to flip a 3-0 deficit into a 12-3 lead. Each of the six baskets during the run came from a different player: Burks, sophomore Jannson Williams, freshman Iran Bennett, Elmore, Kinsey and sophomore Darius George.
After Wesleyan trimmed the deficit to 19-18 with 8:20 left, the Herd put together another run – this one a 10-point spurt – to make it 29-18 with 4:50 left of the half. By intermission, Marshall led 39-26 – its largest lead was 16 points – and scoring was so balanced that no player had reached double digits.
"Now it's time for the real stuff," D'Antoni said. "We're going on the road to Eastern Kentucky, and that wasn't too good two years ago … we'll have to be prepared. The first games are always hard."
The regular season opener at EKU will tip off at 7 p.m. The official home opener is Sunday, Nov. 11 against Hofstra at 2:30 p.m.
For all the latest information about Marshall men's basketball, follow @HerdMBB on Twitter and Instagram.
To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS and Android.
The Thundering Herd, which opens the regular season Wednesday at Eastern Kentucky, won both of its preseason tune-up games. Thursday's game, played in front of a crowd of 5,721, allowed fifth-year coach Dan D'Antoni a final evaluation of the defending Conference USA champions before the beginning of non-conference play.
"That was our first look at a zone (defense), so that helped us out," D'Antoni said. "We'll have good tape to show our kids where to go. We got a chance to play everybody. I felt good about our effort; our effort was much better than the first game, especially defensively. We still have some work to do."
Most of Marshall's production came on the inside against visiting Wesleyan. By the game's end, the Herd had scored 56 of its 83 points in the paint and shot 5 for 33 (15.2 percent) from 3-point range.
A pair of those 3-pointers came in the game's waning moments.
The scoring was balanced effort. Senior guard C.J. Burks and freshman guard Taevion Kinsey led the way with 10 points apiece. Senior guard Jon Elmore, senior guard Rondale Watson and sophomore forward Mikel Beyers each had 9 points.
Marshall's first exhibition game was a 113-108 win against Glenville State, so the Herd defense allowed 43 fewer points in Thursday's matchup.
"I thought the energy all-around was a lot better," Elmore said. "Communication was great on defense. We gave up about half as many points as we gave up last game … we got better. That was our goal with these two games, to see where we stood and see what we need to improve on. From game one to game two, there was definitely a jump. Hopefully from these two to the first real game it'll be a bigger jump. We're fired up. We're excited."
But this was not a typical Marshall offensive performance. Before those late 3s by walk-on Luke Thomas (6 points in three minutes of action), the Herd was 3 for 30 (10 percent) from 3-point range.
"I think we were 1 for 19 at half," Elmore said. "The way we play that's not normally what we do."
Still, Wesleyan never threatened in the second half, and the Herd led by as many as 21 points with eight seconds left.
A total of 14 different players scored for Marshall. True freshman Cam Brooks-Harris led the way with seven rebounds. Elmore had a team-high seven of the team's 22 assists. Sophomore Jarrod West, Elmore, Watson and Brooks-Harris each had two steals. Marshall outrebounded Wesleyan, 44-34, and forced the visitors into 24 turnovers.
Marshall finished with 12 dunks to its five 3-pointers.
The statistical difference in Marshall's usual production started to show in the first half. While the Herd struggled from 3-point range – MU missed 18 of 19 from beyond the arc in the first half – the team scored 34 of its 39 first-half points in the paint, many on dunks and put-backs against a smaller Wesleyan team. Marshall's first seven field goals were from inside the paint, and the first 3 did not come until 10:53 left of the first half.
Burks ended the 3-point drought to make it 17-9, Marshall, after the Herd missed its first nine 3-point attempts. During that drought, though, MU went on a 12-0 run over a four-minute, 32-second span to flip a 3-0 deficit into a 12-3 lead. Each of the six baskets during the run came from a different player: Burks, sophomore Jannson Williams, freshman Iran Bennett, Elmore, Kinsey and sophomore Darius George.
After Wesleyan trimmed the deficit to 19-18 with 8:20 left, the Herd put together another run – this one a 10-point spurt – to make it 29-18 with 4:50 left of the half. By intermission, Marshall led 39-26 – its largest lead was 16 points – and scoring was so balanced that no player had reached double digits.
"Now it's time for the real stuff," D'Antoni said. "We're going on the road to Eastern Kentucky, and that wasn't too good two years ago … we'll have to be prepared. The first games are always hard."
The regular season opener at EKU will tip off at 7 p.m. The official home opener is Sunday, Nov. 11 against Hofstra at 2:30 p.m.
For all the latest information about Marshall men's basketball, follow @HerdMBB on Twitter and Instagram.
To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS and Android.
Team Stats
WVWC
MARM
FG%
.393
.466
3FG%
.400
.152
FT%
.643
.714
RB
34
44
TO
24
14
STL
5
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
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