Dec. 31, 2007

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San Diego at Marshall Game Book

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall University men's basketball team bounced back from its first home loss of the season in grand fashion as it never trailed in its 76-60 win over visiting San Diego on Saturday at the Cam Henderson Center.

Thundering Herd freshman Tirrell Baines (Laurens, S.C.) scored a team- and career-high 19 points on a 6-for-8 shooting performance (7-for-9 from the FT line) with six rebounds in 27 minutes. The forward netted 12 first-half points, including Marshall's initial five points, while dominating the paint to get the Herd on track early after its loss to Lipscomb on Saturday.

Marshall (7-4) jumped all over the Toreros (7-9) from the opening tip and established a double-digit lead just seven-and-a-half minutes into the contest in a dominating first-half performance. Up 10-8, Marshall went on a 10-0 run thanks to some defense and nifty passing. Forward Robbie Jackson (Aberdeen, Md.) kick-started the run with a jumper in the post before guard Taurean Marshall (Fort Washington, Md.) picked USD guard Devin Ginty's pocket on back-to-back possessions that led to uncontested layups for the senior.

A thunderous, two-handed dunk by Markel Humphrey (Atlanta, Ga.) off a nice drive and dish from Darryl Merthie (Lake Mary, Fla.), followed by two Jackson free throws, capped the MU run for a 20-8 Herd lead with 12:40 remaining.

A Brandon Johnson 3-pointer on USD's next possession sliced the Toreros' deficit to nine points, but that's as close as they would get the rest of the game as Marshall built as much as a 22-point lead in the first half. Marshall entered halftime up 43-24.

MU freshman Matt Walls (Georgetown, Ky.), after a poor shooting performance versus Lipscomb, rebounded nicely with 10 first-half points on 4-of-4 shooting (2-for-2 3FG). Walls finished with 12 points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal off the bench.

"The guys came back with a great focus and they had great compassion," Marshall head coach Donnie Jones said. "We knew (San Diego) played terrific against Kentucky and we just tried to take away some things. One of them, which was very difficult to take away, was Brandon Johnson. He's a very good player, but we managed to keep everyone else out of double figures."

Johnson, fresh off his career-high 27-point effort in the Toreros' nine-point victory at Kentucky on Saturday, netted 14 points in the opening frame en route to another 27-point outing.

Marshall's 15 first-half field goals (15-for-28, 53.6 percent) matched San Diego's 15 first-half attempts from the floor (6-for-15, 40 percent). With just over seven minutes remaining, USD had attempted only six field goal attempts thanks in part to an efficient, methodical Herd offense that used the majority of the shot clock on several possessions.

Marshall maintained control in the second half and grabbed its biggest lead, 54-29, at 15:36. The Toreros would get no closer than 17 points the remainder of the game.

"You have two completely different things going on," USD head coach Bill Grier said. "We are coming off a big win and they are coming off a tough loss at home. Emotionally it was just two different teams.

"Marshall is a really good team. Donnie [Jones] is doing a very good job with them; they have changed the tempo of the game and they are very aggressive off the glass."

Humphrey finished with nine points, snapping his 19-game streak of outings with double-digit points, and tied Baines for the team lead with six rebounds. Senior Mark Dorris (Cincinnati, Ohio) netted 10 points and hit two of the Herd's seven 3-point field goals.

Marshall collected 14 offensive rebounds that led to 17 second-chance points. The Herd was also successful at the free-throw line, hitting 78.9 percent (15-for-19) of its attempts.

USD forward Gyno Pomare, after a double-double at UK, scored nine points with only one rebound. Danny Brown scored eight points with three rebounds and a block.

In all, nine different Herd players scored, including six points from Jackson in his first game action since starting at Louisville on Dec. 18. Senior Jean Francois Bro Grebe (Abidjan, Ivory Coast) blocked a shot and picked up two rebounds in two minutes off the bench.

Marshall will play its final non-conference home game on Saturday, Jan. 5, when it welcomes Big South champion Winthrop to the Henderson Center. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.