Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
1-1,0-0Sun Belt
Toledo
1-2,0-0MAC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toledo | 27 | 54 | 81 |
| Marshall | 38 | 38 | 76 |
11/7/2026 5:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall Men's Basketball (1-1) saw a double-digit lead slip away in a tough 81-76 defeat to Toledo (1-2) Saturday afternoon at the Cam Henderson Center.
Bryce Slay led the way for Marshall, including scoring the first 14 points of the contest for the Herd on his way to a career-high 23 points. Noah Otshudi followed closely behind with 22 points. Erich Harding grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds while Khaman Maker also surpassed double-digit boards with 10.
The Herd led by as much as 14 at points in the opening half, and 11 at the halftime break with a 38-27 scoreline. The Rockets caught fire in the second half, shooting 55 percent from the field with 54 points in the final 20 minutes to come away with the five-point win.
"I thought we played well in the first half, we played with the energy that we needed," said Marshall Head Coach Cornelius 'Corny' Jackson. "We came out in the second half, we relaxed, for whatever reason, we didn't have the same juice as we had in the first half. We warned the guys at halftime, the most irrelevant score in basketball is the halftime score. We reminded them that Toledo was a culture team who is used to winning. They weren't going to stop playing because we were up 11. So today was a huge lesson for us. I thought we gave this game away."
Toledo took its first lead since the opening minutes at 56-55 with 9:57 remaining in the contest. A Luke Rasmussen three put MU back in front and the back-and-forth final 10 minutes was on from there.
In a game with 14 lead changes, nine came in the second half. A triple from Colt Langdon - his first in a Marshall uniform - and an Otshudi layup had MU up four with five minutes to play, only to be answered as it seemingly had all game long by the Rockets. An 8-0 run by the visitors, its largest of the game, came across a two minute span to put MU down by four late.
Slay and Otshudi made shots down the stretch to match Toledo, but with the Herd down three in the final minute, a pair of potential game-tying triples came up short to hand Marshall its first loss of the 2026-27 season.
With a quick turnaround, Marshall faces Ohio State Monday evening from Columbus. Tip will be at 6 p.m. and broadcast nationally on the Big Ten Network.
"We have to shift our focus to Ohio State," said Coach Jackson. "Every loss, depending on how you look at it, is a lesson. Hopefully we learned a valuable lesson from this. We'll keep getting better, it's early. You hate to give away home games, you got to take home court. I thought we gave this game away, but we got to use it as a learning experience."
For all the latest information about Marshall Men's Basketball, follow @Herd_MBB on Twitter and @HerdMBB on Instagram.
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---HerdZone.com---
