HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall shot just 3-for25 from three on its way to its first home loss of the season, 91-68 to UTEP.
Senior Austin Loop broke Tamar Slay’s 15-year record for career three-pointers but that was about the only highlight on the night for a Thundering Herd team that had previously been unbeatable at home.
“Well it was not a good shooting night for us. We shot 12 percent from three, so all of you who say we shoot too many threes you have your ammo. I don’t know what the deal was, I felt like we got the same kind of shots that we always get. They made it tough on [Austin] Loop but a lot of that was for what we were trying to do with the pick and rolls, we tried to get the ball to the rim,” said Coach Dan D’Antoni.
“It could be me. I broke my rule I was preparing for multiple defenses, which meant that our rhythm in practice changed a little bit. It’s been an emotional week, you get low and then high. When you start moving that needle of emotions up and down you can either play really well or you can play really flat. 12 wins in-a-row here we were due one anyway. It could be a combination of all of them, I don’t know. Obviously that was not our best game.”
When you UTEP took a 4-2 lead with 17:30 left in the first half, the Miners would never trail again.
UTEP (6-14, 4-4 C-USA) held a 10-point advantage at halftime, 45-35, and frittered away most of that lead early in the second half. Marshall (13-9, 6-3 C-USA) cut the deficit to 2 points, 45-43, with 16:59 left and only trailed by 3 points, 52-49, with 14:28 when the Miners regained control. Before C.J. Burks hit the only non-Loop 3-pointer for the Herd with 11:02 left of the second half, UTEP scored 12 consecutive points to flip that 3-point advantage into a 15-point cushion.
Junior forward Terrence Thompson led the Herd with 25 points, a career high. He added 10 rebounds for the double-double. Senior forward Ryan Taylor added 14 points and eight rebounds, while junior guard Jon Elmore finished with 11 points, six assists and five rebounds.
UTEP received 25 points and seven rebounds from 7-1 junior Matt Willms. Artis, a senior guard, scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Overall, the Miners held a 60-32 advantage in the paint and a 45-29 edge on the boards.
Marshall plays its next three games on the road: at Southern Miss on Thursday, Feb. 2; at Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Feb. 4; and at Western Kentucky on Saturday, Feb. 11. The Herd’s next home game is Thursday, Feb. 16, when UAB visits Huntington.