HUNTINGTON, W.Va.— Marshall could not overcome a 14-point second half deficit and fell to FAU at home on Saturday 65-57.
The Herd trailed by 14 with 8:27 to play and would rally to close to within 60-57 of the Owls with 33 second remaining but could not close out the comeback. Consistency was once again the achilles heal for The Herd as it struggled against the Owls’ 2-3 zone. The Owls also out rebounded The Herd 37-39 for the night.
“It’s just very frustrating, winning a game and having that momentum and then coming into the next game and then being down at half, it kind of drops you a little bit,” said Herd freshman forward Ryan Taylor, who scored 14 points in the loss. “We tried to pick it back up and pull the game out, but just being up and down like a roller coaster, it is very frustrating.”
“We didn’t defend. We didn’t rebound. End of story. Game over,” Herrion said.
Guard Chris Thomas led Marshall with 16 points, but he managed only four of those in 12 second-half minutes. And after shooting a season-best .842 (16-of-19) at the foul line in the Thursday win to go .775 in the last three games, MU slipped back to its earlier trouble at the stripe on a 9-of-16 day (.563).
The Herd got the deficit down to 60-57 when point guard Kareem Canty made the first of a two-shot free throw opportunity, but he missed the second attempt with 33 seconds left. Then, at 24.9 seconds, FAU’s Jackson Trapp missed the front end of a bonus try, but Marshall’s Shawn Smith was called for a lane violation.
Given new life, Trapp this time made both, and then Raffington hit a pair with 17.6 seconds remaining as the Herd fouled in desperation.
Now, the Herd goes on the road for three straight, starting with a Friday night date (9:30 ET, CBS Sports Network telecast) at Southern Miss, which shares the league lead with UTEP. Then it’s a Sunday afternoon game at Tulane before a Feb. 15 game at Charlotte.
Marshall comes home Feb. 20 and 22 against UAB and Middle Tennessee, respectively.