— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall University’s defense put the clamps on Rice, and the Thundering Herd had more than enough offensive firepower to race past the Owls, 89-69, in the Conference USA opener for both schools on Thursday night.
The contest was played in front of 5,311 fans inside Cam Henderson Center.
Taevion Kinsey led the Thundering Herd (7-7, 1-0 C-USA) with 19 points and eight assists. Marshall shot 35-of-60 from the field (58.3 percent) and limited the Owls (8-6, 0-1 C-USA) to 22-of-59 from the field, including 6-of-21 from behind the arc.
Marshall defenders also recorded 10 blocked shots.
“Defense was really good,” Thundering Herd coach Dan D’Antoni said. “They’re used to making 10 3s a game, made six. Under 40 (percent) from field, under 30 on the threes. If we can do that consistently, we’ll be ready to play.”
Tre Murphy III, Rice’s leading scorer at 13.8 per game, totaled just 11. He made just 4-of-14 shots. Drew Peterson led the visitors with 18 points.
“He got a couple early,” Marshall guard Jerrod West said of Murphy. “A couple were my mistakes. Darius (George) took him, took it personally. He said, ‘I got him.’ He locked him down.”
West, who played 32 minutes, added 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.
“We came out with energy both halves,” West said. “Hit a couple of threes and got it going. Defense was really good. We’ve just got to stop fouling so much.”
Marshall now leads the series against Rice, 13-4. The Owls are now 43-56 in conference openers all-time and 30-68 overall in road openers.
Marshall got over early jitters and led 44-35 at the break. The Herd steadily pulled away in the second half with its biggest lead at 25 (79-54) with 6:32 to play.
“They cause you a lot of problems,” Rice coach Scott Pera said. “They have depth, athleticism at the rim. We missed close shots, but how many did they cause us to miss.”
D’Antoni was pleased with Kinsey’s performance.
“We isoed him a little bit. He would hesitate. Once the lid was off, he scored.
“We’re finishing games now. On offense we got some of our familiar plays (pick and roll, lobs). On defense we got stops.”
Darius George got the start for the Herd in place of Jannson Williams. George totaled seven points and six rebounds before he left with 6:32 to play after going to the floor on a drive to the basket for a layup.
Max Fielder of the Owls was called for a flagrant 1 foul. George eventually got up and departed to the bench on his own and Mikel Beyers subbed and made 1-of-2 free throws.
“He earned it,” D’Antoni said of George making the start. “You go with the guys who produce.”
Marshall, which has won five of its last six games, returns to action Saturday at home against North Texas. Tip is 2 p.m. Western Kentucky used a big second half to defeat the Mean Green, 93-84, Thursday night in Bowling Green, Ky.