Marshall Thrashes Charleston Southern 82-53

Marshall Thrashes Charleston Southern 82-53
Wes Ryan
Huntington

Marshall closed out a four-game home stand with a 29-point win over Charleston Southern at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington Tuesday night, 82-53.

The Herd (4-4) looked like a completely different team in the win compared to what they showed in Saturday’s 73-65 loss to Appalachian State. Against the Mountaineers Saturday, Marshall shot a miserable 35 percent from the field and connected on just over half of its free throw attempts. But in Tuesday’s 82-53 win over the Buccaneers (4-4), Marshall was on fire shooting 59 percent from the floor, its highest total since February of 2003 against Kent State. Marshall shot the ball much better from the charity stripe as well, hitting 18 of 22 attempts Tuesday, compared to 17 of 31 against Appalachian State.

Coach Ron Jirsa juggled the starting line up for the Herd trying to kick start the offense, and it paid off well. Instead of his normal role of coming off the bench, leading scorer Joe Miles was on the floor to start game, as well as guard Chris Ross. Miles was one of four Herd players to score in double figures, finishing the game with 12. But it was Tre Whitted who paced the Herd with a career high 20 points. Whitted missed his first shot near the half way mark in the second half, his only misfire of the night as he finished 8-9 from the field. Mark Patton and Travis Aikens added 14 and 11 points respectively.

Defensively Marshall did fantastic job in shutting down a Charleston Southern team that lost to St. John's by just 14 points earlier this season, forcing them into an abysmal 28 percent shooting performance from the floor. The Buccaneers who usually hit close to 36 percent of their three point attempts were just 4 of 23 from beyond the arc. Marshall also forced 16 turnovers, and held leading scorer Dwayne Jackson to just 5 points.

Marshall now gets nine days off before going to Furman to play in the Jack in the Box Holiday Classic. The Herd will match up with South Carolina State in its first round match up on Dec. 29. The next home contest for Marshall will not be until after the New Year when they host 13th-ranked George Washington on Jan. 7.