HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – It is not a surprise that Marshall’s 5-0 start in Conference USA has coincided with senior James Kelly finding his stride. The University of Miami-transfer dropped 32 points on Rice in a 94-90 victory last Saturday. Kelly scored 27 of his 32 points in the second half, after missing much of the first 20 minutes in foul trouble.
“It might be crazy for you but not for him,” quipped coach Dan D’Antoni about Kelly’s dominance in the second half against the Owls. “To be honest with you, the only limits on him are what he limits himself to.”
Kelly has been a major factor in Marshall defeating its first five conference opponents by an average of 16.4 points per game and the Herd clearing the 90-point plateau in five consecutive contests.
Over the last five games, Kelly averaging a double-double, scoring a league-best 25 points a game and pulling down 10.8 rebounds a game (third in C-USA). Kelly is also shooting over 64 percent from the field, second-best in C-USA action.
“We feel good and he feels confident and we expect him to play like that. I’m not going to get surprised by it,” D’Antoni said matter-of-factly.
While D’Antoni admits the heart of the conference schedule is still ahead of his team, the early success against C-USA competition hasn’t come as a shock to him. Marshall is averaging almost 95 points per game and is shooting over 50 percent from the floor. The Herd is also connecting on 40 percent of its three-point attempts, just behind UAB’s 44 percent from three-point range in C-USA games.
Against North Texas, Marshall swished 11-of-22 from downtown.
“We’re capable of that. If [Austin] Loop is shooting, it would probably be a lot higher,” observed D’Antoni.
Marshall’s three-point sharpshooter was an uncharacteristic 0-for-2 from outside last Saturday.
“We weren’t as sharp as we’ve been the last four games but sometimes you’ve got win when you’re not on top of your game.”
The competition gets tougher this weekend with games at Charlotte and Old Dominion. While the 49ers have struggled, 4-13 overall and 1-4 in conference, Old Dominion could easily be atop the conference with Marshall.
The Monarchs picked up a road win at Louisiana Tech before dropping its next three games. However, Old Dominion’s loses to Southern Miss, UAB and Middle Tennessee were by a combined six points. That includes coming up on the short end of a 72-71 overtime battle with the Blazers.
“Things are going our way but we’ve still got the meat of the conference yet. We’ve got to keep getting better,” admitted D’Antoni. “We’re not good enough yet to say we’re champs.”