Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
17-10,9-5Sun Belt
South Alabama
19-8,9-5Sun Belt
Marshall Men’s Basketball Takes Down Top-Ranked South Alabama, 84-80
2/16/2026 10:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Fricks’ late-game heroics, Herd’s early shooting lead to pivotal SBC win
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall Men's Basketball knocked down 12 first-half 3-pointers and Wyatt Fricks had a pair of huge plays in the late stages as the Thundering Herd knocked off top-ranked South Alabama, 84-80, in front of 3,932 fans at Cam Henderson Center.
With the win, Marshall moves to 17-10 on the season and 9-5 in the Sun Belt Conference, which places them in a tie for second with four games left in the regular season.
"That was a big win that we clearly needed and I'm proud of these guys for coming out and making plays," Marshall head coach Cornelius Jackson said following the win. "They executed well against the zone and obviously, we shot the ball well. I'm proud of these guys for executing. That's a really good South Alabama team."
Marshall led for over 35 minutes of action after a hot start, but Fricks and fellow senior Jalen Speer had several plays late that thwarted a South Alabama comeback attempt.
With the Marshall lead down to 80-78, Fricks grabbed a missed 3-pointer by Noah Otshudi and converted an and-1 opportunity on the offensive rebound to push the lead back to five.
Seconds later, Fricks met South Alabama big man Stephen Williams at the rim on a dunk attempt, notching his fifth block of the game to end any comeback attempt.
Fricks finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and five blocks to lead the Herd to the win.
"It's been five years in the waiting for this," Fricks said. "I've been prepping myself and waiting for my opportunity. I'm doing my best to take advantage of it. My teammates believe in me and Corny believes in me, so it's just stepping up in those big moments."
Just before Fricks' flurry, Speer had quieted a run by the Jaguars that cut the lead to 77-76 when Fricks hit him at the top of the key for a 3-pointer that kept the Herd over the top.
It was Speer's sixth 3-pointer on the night and the 18th 3-pointer of the contest for Marshall, who consistently knocked down shots against the Jaguars' variety of zones.
Speer finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, continuing his pace as the SBC's leader in assists.
"They have an aggressive zone, but we could get those open shots at the top of the key and the wing, and we knew that," Speer said. "We just went in focused on making them. The assists, they are going to come because they are going to pop out more and they're going to get tired on their rotations."
Early on, Marshall's ball movement proved crucial to the offensive success with the Herd knocking down 12 3-pointers in the first half en route to a 48-35 halftime advantage.
That trend continued throughout the night as the Herd finished with 26 assists on 30 made baskets with only seven turnovers in the win.
Wilson Dubinsky and Caleb Hollenbeck each came off the bench to combine for seven 3-pointers while point guard Landen Joseph got the start and also knocked down three shots from long range.
Dubinsky finished with 12 points off the bench while Joseph added 10 points and six assists with no turnovers.
Next up for the Herd is a road game at App State, who moved into first place with South Alabama's loss on Monday night. The Herd and Mountaineers will hit the floor at Holmes Convocation Center at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.
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---HerdZone.com---
