HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall blew open a tie game at halftime, shooting 61.5 percent from the field in the second half to defeat Charlotte 110-93 and remain perfect in Conference USA.
Marshall and the 49ers were tied a 51-51 at halftime, but Charleston-native Jon Elmore assumed control of the game in the opening minutes of the second half. Elmore made his first six shots of the second half and ended the game with 29 points and 10 assists.
“That’s just a part of our offense. We run a lot of pick-and-rolls and play up-tempo. We try to exploit other teams’ weaknesses and the pick-and-roll was doing that tonight,” said Elmore.
Meanwhile, Charlotte did not have an answer for the Herd Ryan Taylor either. Taylor notched a double-double for the third straight game with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
“We knew coming into the game that they play a similar style of game compared to us. We knew that it was going to be an up-and-down game with a lot of shots taken at a high pace. We made the plays towards the end to pull away,” Taylor said.
In his 41st career game, Elmore made his 200th career field goal, his 100th career 3-pointer and passed Marshall great Tamar Slay for No. 19 on the career assists list with 251. Elmore made 8 of 15 shots, including 1 of 3 from 3-point range, and 12 of 15 free throws. He also had two steals.
Taylor’s 24 points ties him with Tom Curry (1984-88) for No. 14 on Marshall’s career scoring list with 1,535 points. Taylor is 58 points away from cracking the program’s top 10 in career scoring.
“Charlotte was about what we expected, they’d get up and down the floor like us. The problem with facing a team like us is that they are so unpredictable, it almost takes the coaching out of it. It was for the players to pull out a win in a game like this, and our players did. I give them all the kudos in the world. We beat [Charlotte] in all different positions tonight. I’m happy for our kids, and we’re now 4-0 in conference, and our RPI jumped to 81,” coach Dan D’Antoni said.
Marshall is back on the road next week for two of its toughest conference games. Marshall visits preseason favorite Middle Tennessee on Thursday then heads to UAB on Saturday.