SAN DIEGO — Jon Elmore’s 27 points put Marshall in upset position and his teammates finished the job in knocking off Wichita State 81-75 on Friday.
Next up could be a matchup against in-state rival West Virginia, played some 2,300 miles from the Charleston Civic Center where they previously met.
BOXSCORE: Marshall 81, Wichita State 75
Adjin Penava resurfaced from foul trouble to finish with 16 points and eight rebounds as the Herd (25-10) earned its first NCAA tournament victory. The 6-foot-9 Bosnian scored three baskets in the final 4 minutes, including a dribble-drive layup that put Marshall ahead to stay at 71-70.
Jarrod West followed with a long 3, part of a supporting cast that scored Marshall’s final 15 points after Elmore did fine work over the game’s first 34 minutes.
The Charleston native Elmore made 4-of-8 3-pointers — a couple from unguardable distance — and used penetration to draw fouls that led to 15 free-throw attempts.
“Just another day in the park,” joked Elmore. “I don’t care who you put on me I’m going to attack you for 40 minutes.”
HIs catch-and-shoot 3 off an inbounds pass as the shot clock expired squared the game at 65-all.
The Shockers (25-8) became the second No. 4 seed bounced in the opening round, following Arizona’s exit agains Buffalo.
“We did not play the game we needed to play to advance,” said Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall, whose team entered as 13-point favorites. “They’re very hard to guard. They have a great and very unique offense. Coach D’Antoni does a great job of spacing the floor.”
Conner Frankamp matched Elmore’s huge performance with 27 points and Landry Shamet added 11 points and eight assists. But the Shockers’ 15 turnovers fueled Marshall’s 27-7 edge in points off miscues.
“How about that defense!” cracked D’Antoni, mocking the Herd’s shoot-first, guard-later reputation. “It’s not Antoni, it’s D’Antoni.”
While Frankamp made 6-of-10 from 3, the rest of the Shockers hit 2-of-19.
“Conner had a great game,” Marshall said. “Thank goodness he showed up and played as well as he did today. Otherwise, it would have been even worse.”
Penava picked up his fourth foul with 13:56 left chasing a loose ball 52-47. He re-entered at 5:37 with Marshall leading 66-65.
“He picks up a couple of stupid fouls every now and then, but you can’t put a number on what he means to us,” Elmore said.
The Herd led 33-26 before going without a basket for the final 4:15 of the half, a drought that included Penava missing an uncontested dunk and drawing a technical for hanging on the rim. After Frankampt sank the technical free throw, the Shockers ended the half on an 11-1 run to surge ahead 37-34.
Wichita State stretched the lead to seven early in the second half before Marshall’s rally re-energized the Viejas Arena crowd.
“I’m usually a good quote, but I’m so excited right now I can’t talk,” D’Antoni said. “”It’s fun to win and we’re gonna try to do it one more time.”