The last we saw of Marshall at the end of its 2017-18 season, the Thundering Herd were thundering into the national conscious as one of the early stories of the NCAA Tournament. The jury is still out if the Herd can do it again.
Memorably, Marshall made good use of its first NCAA Tournament trip in 31 years, knocking off fourth-seeded Wichita State in the first round before being eliminated by in-state rival West Virginia a round later. The Thundering Herd did it with an attention-grabbing, relentless three-point attack, one which they featured in each of coach Dan D’Antoni’s first four years, but the team clearly took it up another notch last season and especially as the year wound down.
Similar success was expected this season, with four starters back and Marshall picked to finish second in Conference USA’s preseason poll, barely behind Western Kentucky. So far, though, the going has been tougher, and in fact the Herd were just 5-4 before a 76-64 win over Morehead State Monday night.
Jon Elmore has been largely outstanding just as he was last year, even as his efficiency has slipped some-seemingly an epidemic this season with a number of experienced returning guards. Elmore scored 27 last night, draining seven three-pointers, and his 17 first-half points helped Marshall to a comfortable 44-24 halftime lead.
Elmore is averaging 21 points a game, and backcourt mate C.J. Burks also is carrying a load with 18.5 per contest, though he’s just 29.1% from three-point range so far this year, including 1 of 7 against the Eagles. What the Thundering Herd doesn’t have is Ajdin Penava, the gangly, 6-foot-9 all-around the court force who especially provided such a frontcourt presence on both ends last year.
Penava was such a unique player and an ultimate rim protector, and it’s no surprise that Marshall has struggled to fill his role. Of course there was his scoring versatility and shot-blocking, but the Herd also was generally hammered on the glass in its recent four losses in a five game stretch to Maryland, Ohio, Duquesne and Toledo, even more than it typically gives up on that end with its bombs-away offense.
Those four losses were concerning not so much that they happened-three were on the road-but in how decisive they were. The Herd were run out of the gym by Maryland and Ohio alike, fell behind big early against Duquesne and Toledo, and only in the latter game were able to rally back at home from a 19-point deficit, only to fall to the Rockets in overtime.
Marshall still belongs firmly among the top contenders in a Conference USA that is especially wide-open now with Middle Tennessee State’s regression, Western Kentucky’s unpredictability, Old Dominion’s toughness but challenges scoring, and upstarts like Florida Atlantic and North Texas tough to figure just yet. Make no mistake, though, that this is certainly a different team, and it will take work to approach the level of last year’s squad down the stretch.
Side Dishes: It’s such a light night that we can recap every single game on the schedule-all seven of them.
- Hofstra absolutely ran away from Manhattan in the second half, turning an 11-point margin at the break into a 38-point bulge at one point before ending with an 80-50 win on the road in Draddy Gymnasium. And the Flying Dutchmen, er, Pride didn’t even need much from Justin Wright-Foreman to do it-just 14 points, but Tareq Coburn scored 22 and two others touched double figures too. Hofstra is 8-3 overall and will be a contender in the CAA, and now has a five-game winning streak that would be seven games if not for a two-point overtime loss at VCU.
- Saint Mary’s came out blazing hot in the first half, making 10 of 13 from three-point range, and maintained in the final 20 minutes to defeat Cal State Fullerton 81-66. Jordan Ford (19) and Malik Fitts (18) combined to drain 10 of the Gaels’ 11 triples, and keep an eye on 6-foot-10 Jordan Hunter, who has flashed glimpses the past two years and scored 18 and added 10 rebounds.
- Pacific came back from 14 down early in the second half to top Long Beach State 74-68 in a battle of former Big West rivals. Lafayette Dorsey was the story for the Tigers, scoring a career-high 31 points. The Tigers are 8-4 now, another team doing its part to win non-conference games for the West Coast Conference.
- Dartmouth is off to a decent start. The Big Green are now 6-5 after topping Sacred Heart 82-73 in a matinee yesterday. Leading scorer Chris Knight was held to seven points, nine under his average, but still flirted with a triple-double with 12 rebounds and nine assists plus four blocks. Adrease Jackson stepped up with 20 points and Dartmouth shot 52.4%.
- Beating up non-Division I teams were Maine (a 98-43 victor over Maine Machias) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which topped Champion Baptist (Ark.) 84-51. Score only.
- Sad news yesterday, as former Indiana star Eric Anderson passed away on Sunday at the age of 48. The 6-foot-9 Anderson played under Bob Knight and was an all-Big Ten forward for the Hoosiers, and most memorably helped pace IU to a 1992 Final Four appearance. He was an excellent player and many remembrances of him yesterday were nothing but positive.
- Somehow top 25 polls-supposedly meaningless, as we’re oft told-continue to get the dander up of many this year. Associated Press voter Graham Couch of the Lansing (Mich.) State Journal made waves yesterday with his AP poll ballot, where he left Duke, Kansas and Tennessee off his ballot in order to make a point about non-conference scheduling, specifically the dearth of road games (read: zero) teams like those named have played. Agree or disagree with his rankings, but his points about scheduling made here are unimpeachable, and it’s nice seeing somebody stand up to it and put the burden of proof on the teams seen on TV the most. And if one doesn’t like his ranking, seems the easy solution would be that the teams that don’t go on the road, should go on the road.
Tonight’s Menu
- Contrary to last night when not a single game was on the tube, there is a very worthy television offering this evening as Villanova visits Pennsylvania at the Palestra (7 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2). The Quakers already have a comfortable win over Miami (Fla.) at home this month and are the last barrier to the Wildcats extending their Big 5 title streak to six. Watch Penn’s perimeter defense-the Quakers are one of the best defending the three-point line in the country.
- Still ranked, still undefeated and fresh off their fifth true road win this season already, Furman hosts Charleston Southern looking to move to 11-0.
- Solid matchup in the South as Georgia Southern is at Central Florida. Something will have to give: the Eagles shoot 52.7% from the field; the Knights hold teams to 36.7% shooting.
- A couple TV games of limited interest on the Big Ten Network: Loyola (Md.) meets Maryland in a local battle (7 p.m.), and then North Florida’s three-point bombing brigade is at Minnesota (9 p.m.).
- Prairie View A&M is looking like one of the favorites in the SWAC, regardless of its current 1-8 record. All nine of those games have been on the road, and so is No. 10 at Louisiana-Lafayette. JaKeenan Gant is off to a great start for the Ragin’ Cajuns, averaging just under 18 points and eight boards per game plus more than three blocks.
- Coming off a nice home win over Rutgers, Fordham now hosts New Jersey Tech. A package of Sizzlean bacon should be yours if you know these two are a combined 16-4, with NJIT at 9-2 and the Rams 7-2.
- Colorado doesn’t duck road games-the Buffaloes are playing their third away from the Coors Events Center when they go to New Mexico (9 p.m., ESPN2). CU is quietly 7-1, while the Lobos look to bounce back after being blown away by rival New Mexico State and Saint Mary’s.
- Also in the Rockies, Denver is at Wyoming. The Pioneers need to get Joe Rosga going-the four-year starter and one of the Summit League’s best players is shooting just 36.6% from the field. His team will have its hands full with scoring machine Justin James, who is quietly putting up some huge numbers for the Cowboys.
Have a super Tuesday.
