Herd Men’s Basketball Downs FIU in Miami

Box Score | D'Antoni Press Conference | Quotes

MIAMI, Fla. – The Marshall University men's basketball team (8-4, 2-3 C-USA) ended a two-game losing streak with a 79-66 win at FIU (8-7, 2-5 C-USA) on Friday night at Ocean Bank Convocation Center.

"We looked really good at first," Marshall head coach Dan D'Antoni said after the game. "We told them at halftime that they play like us where they can be down 20 and come back."

Redshirt sophomore guard Andrew Taylor recorded his second double-double of the season with 16 points, tied for the game high with senior guard Jarrod West, and a game-high 10 rebounds. Taylor made seven of his 13 attempts from the field and had three steals.

West converted on five of his eight shot attempts and went 5-for-8 from the free-throw line for his 16 points. The Clarksburg, W.Va., native also added a team-high six assists and a game-high four steals to his stat line.

Senior forward Darius George added 15 points, freshman forward Obinna Anochili Killen scored 12 and junior guard Taevion Kinsey had 10 points to make up five MU student-athletes with 10 or more points. Kinsey also brought down seven boards, while both forwards shot 6-for-8 from the field.

Marshall started the game scoring the first six points of the contest and carried its run to 10-2 to begin the game in the first two-and-a-half minutes. The Herd also made seven of its first eight attempts from the field.

MU broke the game open from 14:06 to 9:10 as seven different players contributed to a 16-3 run and kicked its lead out to 20-points, 33-13. Two minutes later George had a dunk and a three after an FIU two-pointer to extend the Herd's advantage to its largest of the half at 23, 38-15.

After an 8-2 Panthers run, the Green and White finished the half by scoring six of the final eight points in the opening period to lead 48-27 at the break.

The Herd made 20 of its 31 attempts in the first half (64.5 percent) and held FIU to just 12-of-35 (34.3 percent).

The Panthers opened the second half with a pair of threes, but Marshall quickly answered with a 6-0 run.

In the next eight minutes of play, FIU kept the Herd at bay and begin to chip away at its lead as it scored 15 of the next 21 points in the game as the Herd led 60-48 with 13:08 left in the game. After a Jannson Williams layup, the Panthers went on a 10-0 run and cut the Herd lead to two, 62-60, with just under 10 minutes left.

However, the Herd did not give want to falter in the series opener as it closed the game on a 17-6 run, scoring the last seven points, to hold on and take the game.

NOTES
Tonight was win number 121 in D'Antoni's career.

Marshall's 21-point halftime lead was its largest lead at the break this season.

Taylor's double-double was the third of his career and his 16 points marked his third game in double-figure scoring, all three have come in the last four games.

Kinsey scored 10 or more points for the 62nd time of his career.

George collected 10 or more points for the first time since Dec. 9 in a win at College of Charleston.

West had 10 or more points for the first time in his last three games.

The Herd shot 53.3 percent from the field, its third time shooting better than 50 percent this winning all three games.

Williams has one block is four away from tying Ajdin Penava for second most in program history with at 180.

UP NEXT
Marshall looks to sweep it series with FIU on Saturday with a 2 p.m. tipoff in Miami.

For all the latest information about Marshall men's basketball, follow @HerdMBB on Twitter and Instagram.

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Team Stats

Andrew Taylor

Jarrod West

Darius George

Obinna Anochili-Killen

Players Mentioned

Darius George

Taevion Kinsey

Andrew Taylor

Jarrod West

Jannson Williams

Players Mentioned

Darius George

Taevion Kinsey

Andrew Taylor

Jarrod West

Jannson Williams

Marshall University Athletics