Marshall University Athletics
Saturday, January 4
Huntington, W.Va.
2:00 p.m.
Marshall University
-78, 11 CUSA
64
vs
67
North Texas
-78, 11 CUSA
1
2
F
NORTH TEXAS
29
38
67
MARSHALL
31
33
64
Photo by: Rick Haye
Men’s Basketball Drops a Nail-Biter to North Texas
1/4/2020 6:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Kinsey scored 19 points in second-straight game
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall men's basketball (7-8, 1-1 C-USA) fell to the North Texas Mean Green (7-8, 1-1 C-USA) by a three-point margin, 67-64, at the Cam Henderson Center on Saturday afternoon.
"It was a good ballgame," Marshall head coach Dan D'Antoni said after the loss. "They're a good ball club. Their record doesn't show who they really are. They played a tough schedule. They're well coached, played hard and deserved to win."
Sophomore Taevion Kinsey led the Herd for the second-consecutive game in scoring with 19 points on a 7-for-10 shooting day from the field, making his lone attempt from beyond the arc and all four of his free-throw attempts. The guard added four rebounds and two assists to his stat line.
Redshirt freshman Cam Brooks-Harris joined Kinsey in double-figure scoring with 11 points. The Zanesville, Ohio, native recorded a game-high two blocks and tied for the team-high in rebounds with junior Darius George and redshirt freshman Andrew Taylor at five.
Redshirt sophomore Iran Bennett, junior Jarrod West and Taylor each had nine points in the loss. George and Taylor tied for the game-high in steals with three, as Taylor also tied for the game-high in assists with three.
The Mean Green started the game with the first points, but a Kinsey three, a Bennett layup, a West three and a layup from Kinsey sent the Herd on a 10-0 run to take hold of the lead three minutes into the contest.
UNT answered with a 12-0 run a couple of minutes later and the two squads tangoed for the lead the rest of the half before Brooks-Harris hit a buzzer-beating three to give MU a 31-29 lead at the break.
The Mean Green made the opening basket of the half. Kinsey answered a few seconds later with a jumper at 19:11 mark to regain the lead. Marshall wouldn't lead again until Kinsey had a three-point play with just under eight minutes remaining in the game at 52-51.
A minute later UNT would regain the lead, and it extended its lead to as high as seven points down stretch.
However, down six, 65-59, with three minutes left, the Herd was not ready to give up. A layup by George, a dunk and free throw by Taylor cut the deficit to one, 65-64, with 97 ticks on the scoreboard. MU couldn't find an answer as it missed its last four shots and fell to the Mean Green.
NOTES
This is just the second time under D'Antoni Marshall has not started conference play 2-0.
Taylor has had at least three steals in five of his first six games.
Kinsey has had 15 or more points in seven of the team's 15 games this season.
Brooks-Harris had 10 or more points for the second time this season and he tied his career-high of 11 set earlier in the season against Akron.
Today was only the fourth time the Herd has been outscored in the pain this season, it is now 0-4 in those games.
It was just the third game this season Marshall's bench has had 13 or fewer points.
UP NEXT
MU heads to Murfreesboro, Tenn., for its first road contest of conference play on Thursday to face Middle Tennessee.
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---
"It was a good ballgame," Marshall head coach Dan D'Antoni said after the loss. "They're a good ball club. Their record doesn't show who they really are. They played a tough schedule. They're well coached, played hard and deserved to win."
Sophomore Taevion Kinsey led the Herd for the second-consecutive game in scoring with 19 points on a 7-for-10 shooting day from the field, making his lone attempt from beyond the arc and all four of his free-throw attempts. The guard added four rebounds and two assists to his stat line.
Redshirt freshman Cam Brooks-Harris joined Kinsey in double-figure scoring with 11 points. The Zanesville, Ohio, native recorded a game-high two blocks and tied for the team-high in rebounds with junior Darius George and redshirt freshman Andrew Taylor at five.
Redshirt sophomore Iran Bennett, junior Jarrod West and Taylor each had nine points in the loss. George and Taylor tied for the game-high in steals with three, as Taylor also tied for the game-high in assists with three.
The Mean Green started the game with the first points, but a Kinsey three, a Bennett layup, a West three and a layup from Kinsey sent the Herd on a 10-0 run to take hold of the lead three minutes into the contest.
UNT answered with a 12-0 run a couple of minutes later and the two squads tangoed for the lead the rest of the half before Brooks-Harris hit a buzzer-beating three to give MU a 31-29 lead at the break.
The Mean Green made the opening basket of the half. Kinsey answered a few seconds later with a jumper at 19:11 mark to regain the lead. Marshall wouldn't lead again until Kinsey had a three-point play with just under eight minutes remaining in the game at 52-51.
A minute later UNT would regain the lead, and it extended its lead to as high as seven points down stretch.
However, down six, 65-59, with three minutes left, the Herd was not ready to give up. A layup by George, a dunk and free throw by Taylor cut the deficit to one, 65-64, with 97 ticks on the scoreboard. MU couldn't find an answer as it missed its last four shots and fell to the Mean Green.
NOTES
This is just the second time under D'Antoni Marshall has not started conference play 2-0.
Taylor has had at least three steals in five of his first six games.
Kinsey has had 15 or more points in seven of the team's 15 games this season.
Brooks-Harris had 10 or more points for the second time this season and he tied his career-high of 11 set earlier in the season against Akron.
Today was only the fourth time the Herd has been outscored in the pain this season, it is now 0-4 in those games.
It was just the third game this season Marshall's bench has had 13 or fewer points.
UP NEXT
MU heads to Murfreesboro, Tenn., for its first road contest of conference play on Thursday to face Middle Tennessee.
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
UNT
MARM
FG%
.490
.396
3FG%
.385
.300
FT%
.700
.727
RB
32
31
TO
18
17
STL
11
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
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