Marshall University Athletics
Thursday, November 7
Huntington, W.Va.
7:00 p.m.
Marshall University
1-0
67
vs
60
Robert Morris
0-1
1
2
F
ROBERT MORRIS
27
33
60
MARSHALL
33
34
67
Photo by: Adam Gue
Men’s Basketball Wins Season-Opening Contest Over Robert Morris
11/7/2019 11:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
West scored 20 in the victory
Box Score | D'Antoni Press Conference | Photo Gallery
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Behind a 20-point effort from junior guard Jarrod West, the Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team (1-0) kicked off the 2019-20 by taking down the Robert Morris Colonials (0-1), 67-60, on opening night in the Cam Henderson Center on Thursday evening.
Marshall head coach Dan D'Antoni is now 5-1 in season- and home-opening games during his tenure at Marshall. The Herd is on a five-game win streak for the fifth time under D'Antoni.
"Offensively, we have some work to do, but that's (Robert Morris) a good team," D'Antoni said after the win. "That's a tough opening night because they're well coached with veteran guards. They didn't turn it over much. Although we pressured the crap out of them. Defensively we're better than we were last year. We're longer and better. We pressured them, but they had veteran guards who have been in that system for two or three years and they did a nice job."
West's 20 points came on a 9-of-15 shooting night from the field. The guard also contributed four rebounds and had a game-high three takeaways.
Redshirt freshman Cam Brooks-Harris had quite the debut in a Marshall uniform with 10 rebounds, a feat individual Herd players did eight times last season.
Sophomore Taevion Kinsey and junior Mikel Beyers rounded out a trio of MU student-athletes with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Kinsey added a game-high five assists, while Beyers brought down three rebounds.
Junior Jannson Williams, freshman Marko Sarenac and Brooks-Harris tied for the game-high in blocks with two each.
The first half was all Marshall as it either held the lead or it was a tied game for all except 56 seconds. The Herd went on a 10-0 run over a three-and-a-half-minute stretch just over halfway through the opening half of play. Kinsey scored the first five points, freshman center Goran Miladinovic made a free-throw, followed by layups from West and Sarenac to extend the lead to 24-13.
The Herd held a 12-point lead, 28-16, at the 5:46 mark after a pair of buckets by West, but eventually took a 33-27 lead into the half.
Kinsey made the first bucket of the second half. However, RMU scored 11 of the next 14 points to tie the game, 38-38, with 16:26 left in the contest. The Colonials took the lead just over a minute later for the first time since two minutes into the game as the Herd trailed 40-39.
Robert Morris then lead for nearly seven minutes, before MU took over the ballgame in the final 4:13. Marshall scored 11 of the final 13 points with five different players scoring to eventually win by a seven-point margin, 67-60.
At the defensive end down the final stretch of the game, Sarenac came up with two game-changing blocks to keep RMU off the board.
NOTES
West's 20 points was the fourth time he has had a 20-point effort in his career with the last such game coming on Jan. 6, 2018, against Western Kentucky.
West also rejected the third shot of his career and first since a contest against EKU on Dec. 22, 2018.
Marshall outrebounded Robert Morris 45-38 and is 7-0 going back to last season when it outrebounds its opponent.
Williams' pair of shot blocks ties him for 10th all-time in program history with Tyler Wilkerson at 103.
All nine Herd student-athletes who saw action grabbed at least two rebounds.
Kinsey's five assists surpassed a career-high of four he set last season at Western Kentucky on Jan. 21, 2019.
UP NEXT
The Thundering Herd return to action on Sunday with an afternoon tilt against Toledo in Huntington. Opening tip is scheduled for 2 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.
---HerdZone.com---
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Behind a 20-point effort from junior guard Jarrod West, the Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team (1-0) kicked off the 2019-20 by taking down the Robert Morris Colonials (0-1), 67-60, on opening night in the Cam Henderson Center on Thursday evening.
Marshall head coach Dan D'Antoni is now 5-1 in season- and home-opening games during his tenure at Marshall. The Herd is on a five-game win streak for the fifth time under D'Antoni.
"Offensively, we have some work to do, but that's (Robert Morris) a good team," D'Antoni said after the win. "That's a tough opening night because they're well coached with veteran guards. They didn't turn it over much. Although we pressured the crap out of them. Defensively we're better than we were last year. We're longer and better. We pressured them, but they had veteran guards who have been in that system for two or three years and they did a nice job."
West's 20 points came on a 9-of-15 shooting night from the field. The guard also contributed four rebounds and had a game-high three takeaways.
Redshirt freshman Cam Brooks-Harris had quite the debut in a Marshall uniform with 10 rebounds, a feat individual Herd players did eight times last season.
Sophomore Taevion Kinsey and junior Mikel Beyers rounded out a trio of MU student-athletes with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Kinsey added a game-high five assists, while Beyers brought down three rebounds.
Junior Jannson Williams, freshman Marko Sarenac and Brooks-Harris tied for the game-high in blocks with two each.
The first half was all Marshall as it either held the lead or it was a tied game for all except 56 seconds. The Herd went on a 10-0 run over a three-and-a-half-minute stretch just over halfway through the opening half of play. Kinsey scored the first five points, freshman center Goran Miladinovic made a free-throw, followed by layups from West and Sarenac to extend the lead to 24-13.
The Herd held a 12-point lead, 28-16, at the 5:46 mark after a pair of buckets by West, but eventually took a 33-27 lead into the half.
Kinsey made the first bucket of the second half. However, RMU scored 11 of the next 14 points to tie the game, 38-38, with 16:26 left in the contest. The Colonials took the lead just over a minute later for the first time since two minutes into the game as the Herd trailed 40-39.
Robert Morris then lead for nearly seven minutes, before MU took over the ballgame in the final 4:13. Marshall scored 11 of the final 13 points with five different players scoring to eventually win by a seven-point margin, 67-60.
At the defensive end down the final stretch of the game, Sarenac came up with two game-changing blocks to keep RMU off the board.
NOTES
West's 20 points was the fourth time he has had a 20-point effort in his career with the last such game coming on Jan. 6, 2018, against Western Kentucky.
West also rejected the third shot of his career and first since a contest against EKU on Dec. 22, 2018.
Marshall outrebounded Robert Morris 45-38 and is 7-0 going back to last season when it outrebounds its opponent.
Williams' pair of shot blocks ties him for 10th all-time in program history with Tyler Wilkerson at 103.
All nine Herd student-athletes who saw action grabbed at least two rebounds.
Kinsey's five assists surpassed a career-high of four he set last season at Western Kentucky on Jan. 21, 2019.
UP NEXT
The Thundering Herd return to action on Sunday with an afternoon tilt against Toledo in Huntington. Opening tip is scheduled for 2 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.
---HerdZone.com---
Team Stats
RMU
MARM
FG%
.375
.441
3FG%
.318
.200
FT%
.625
.550
RB
38
45
TO
14
16
STL
8
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
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