Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Georgia State
Marshall Men’s Hoops Advances To SBC Quarterfinals
3/7/2024 11:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Curfman, Voyles each set career-highs with 30 points in 86-74 win over Georgia St.
Box Score | Championship Bracket
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Kamdyn Curfman and Kevon Voyles each set new career-highs as Marshall Men's Basketball advanced in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Thursday night with a 86-74 win over Georgia State at Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida.
Curfman tied a Sun Belt Conference record with nine 3-pointers while Voyles hit the 30-point mark for the first time in his career as the Herd earned an impressive win.
With the win, Marshall moves to 13-19 on the season and advances to the SBC quarterfinals on Saturday night where they will face No. 2 James Madison.
"It was a good win for us. We'd been looking for one for a while and it was a good time to do it," Marshall Men's Basketball coach Dan D'Antoni said. "We can't get too excited about it because we've got to get ready for James Madison – they're going to be a good ballclub. It was a good win!"
Marshall never trailed in the second half, using a 13-3 run over a 4:30 stretch to turn a one-point game into a double-digit advantage with 11 minutes left.
From there, Marshall attacked the glass and used the combination of Voyles and Curfman to keep the Panthers from making any run at the Herd.
A pivotal stretch came right after the under-8 timeout when Georgia State cut the deficit to eight and had possession. However, the Herd got a stop and followed with a dunk by Obinna Anochili-Killen, then used a Ryan Nutter steal and a jumper by Voyles to push the lead back to double-figures.
"Even when they made their run, we answered," Voyles said. "We answered the whole game, so it was big."
Marshall took a 41-36 lead into the locker room after getting off to a blazing start from the floor behind Voyles and Curfman.
Voyles scored 17 points in the first half while Curfman knocked down four 3-pointers to lead a strong effort from the outside.
Marshall hit six of its first seven field goal attempts, including all four of its 3-point attempts in jumping out to a 17-3 lead in the first five minutes of action.
"It was a confidence and a mojo thing – kind of a swagger," Curfman said. "To play college sports or any sport really, you've got to have swagger to play. Confidence is half the battle. Everyone played with a lot of confidence."
Georgia State answered with its own run to take a lead, but Voyles and Curfman got hot near the end of the half.
Curfman hit a stepback 3-pointer with 1:30 left in the first half that not only increased the lead, but also pushed him into 6th place on the NCAA's list for All-Time 3-pointers made, passing Duke's J.J. Redick.
In addition to Voyles and Curfman, Nate Martin added eight points and 14 rebounds for the Herd, who were a plus-6 on the glass.
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