Marshall notches first road win of season, 73-63 over Rice

HOUSTON — Having struggled away from home since the start of the 2012-13 season, the Marshall men’s basketball team bucked the trend Thursday night with a 73-63 win at Rice behind a pair of 18-point showings from Kareem Canty and Ryan Taylor.

Marshall Thundering Herd guard Kareem Canty (1) dribbles the ball as Rice forward Ross Wilson (11) defends during the second half at Thursday.

The Herd (7-13, 1-4 Conference USA) collected its first road win of the season while the Owls dropped to 5-13 overall and 0-5 in conference.

Coach Tom Herrion went with a different starting lineup for the second straight game, consisting of Shawn Smith, DeVince Boykins, TyQuane Goard, Ryan Taylor and Tamron Manning.

The Herd’s first-half advantage grew largest at 22-10 when sophomore guard Chris Thomas drained a 3 with 9:04 to play. At the half, the Herd led 33-22 thanks to a 14-2 edge in bench scoring.

The Owls opened the second half with a 9-1 run, bringing the score to 34-31 with 16:18 remaining, but Marshall answered with a 15-4 run capped by a lay-in from Boykins.

Down the stretch, both sides exchanged buckets with Rice looking for a run to make a game of it late. With Marshall milking the shot clock through its point guard Canty, Taylor sank a mid-range jumper with little time remaining on the shot clock as 3:03 remained, making it 62-51.

The knockout blow was delivered by Canty as he grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled, sending him to the line. After sinking both free-throws, the scoreboard read 66-53 with 56 seconds on the clock. As the clock ran out, Canty had scored eight of the Herd’s last 11, clinching a 73-63 road win.

Marshall got to the line often on the night and made its attempts count, finishing 22-of-29 (75.9 percent). Canty added seven assists, while going 8-of-8 from the foul line. Taylor had eight rebounds.

Marshall got off to a fast 7-0 start over the home team and its opening scoring flurry continued as a long-range bucket from freshman forward Taylor pushed it to 11-3, capping a strong start. Stingy defense was key for Marshall in forcing five early Rice turnovers, leading to numerous fast break opportunities.

Marshall will continue its trip with a nationally-televised tilt at Louisiana Tech on Saturday on CBS Sports Network at 8 p.m. Eastern.





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