— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Coach Dan D’Antoni sounded like he’s on a search mission after Charlotte knocked off Marshall, 77-75, in Conference USA men’s basketball Thursday night in front of 5,462 at Cam Henderson Center.
“I’ve got two warriors. I know that,” D’Antoni said at the start of his postgame news conference. “I’ve got to get some people to move their game up.”
D’Antoni made reference to sophomore Taevion Kinsey and junior Jarrod West. Kinsey produced a career-high 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double and played all 40 minutes. West finished with 18 points, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Herd from falling to 8-10 overall and 2-3 in C-USA.
“I don’t see enough fire,” Kinsey said. “Sometimes we got it, sometimes we don’t. The fire has to come from within. No pushing around period. It will come. I’ll never lose faith in this team.”
“Coach Dan was trying to find people who are going to compete,” West added. “Play hard, limit mistakes, do the right thing. We’re 18 games in. We can’t keep making silly mistakes.”
Marshall scored the game’s final five points, including Kinsey’s 3 at the buzzer.
Charlotte, which leads C-USA at 4-0 and is 10-5 overall, led for 34:31 of the game. A big point came with 8:35 left when Kinsey scored on a layup to cut the deficit to 54-49. The 49ers then went on an 8-2 run to extend the lead back to 62-51 and they held on from there to win their first road conference game.
“We shared the ball well,” Charlotte coach Ron Sanchez said. “You never pull away on the road. You’ve got to close things out. You never get out of reach with the way they play.”
Kinsey felt Charlotte’s run was deflating.
“End of shot clock situations,” Kinsey said. “We had a hand all over their face. The ball goes in. They did that twice. You’ve got to score back.”
Charlotte had four players in double figures. Amidou Bamba and Jahmir Young each had 16 points to lead the way. Jordan Shepherd added 14 and Cooper Robb 13 off the bench. He made 3-of- 4 from 3-point range.
“I like the fight we showed,” Sanchez said. “This game starts a tough stretch. They’re a difficult team to prepare for, tough to guard.”
The past three years, D’Antoni had Jon Elmore and C.J. Burks to handle things, particularly in crunch time. They’re gone and D’Antoni needs others to deliver now.
“You knew you were going to Jon or C.J. unless they set someone up,” D’Antoni said. “They were the ones to make plays. It’s time to replace that, especially in the leadership part.”
“Make sure we get people on the floor who want to compete,” D’Antoni said. “I have to do a better job of playing people who earned the minutes, not grant them. It’s more than sweat. It’s discipline. Put people in there who are mean enough to help those two. We’re close. My hopes are not dashed.”
D’Antoni wants to get more from his frontcourt players Iran Bennett, Jannson Williams, Mikel Beyers as well as guard Andrew Taylor.
Bennett had six points, two rebounds and played 21 minutes before he fouled out. Williams netted six points and went eight minutes. Beyers did not score and played just three minutes. Taylor, who at one point averaged nearly 15 points a game when he became eligible second semester, had three points on 1-of-7 shooting.
“Let’s grow up,” D’Antoni said. “Let’s start dominating with the size like we can. Tonight I did not see Jarrod and Taevion get the support we need to do that.”
Bamba stepped up when the Herd defense made things tough on Shepherd and Malik Martin (6-of-18 from the field between the two). Bamba went 6-of-6 from the field and made 4-of-6 free throws.
The 49ers made 22-of-34 to 17-of-27 free throws for the Herd.
“That’s one area we benefited from” Sanchez said. “We put him in good position.”
“Twenty-two points at the foul line. Too many,” D’Antoni added. “No smart fouls.”
West said he’ll do his part to do what it takes to toughen up the Herd.
“The fire starts with me,” the Clarksburg said. “Maybe more vocal. Hold yourself accountable. Look at yourself and what you bring to the table from top to bottom.”
The 49ers began the 1997-1998 season 7-0 in C-USA play, the best league start in school history.
Marshall returns to action Saturday night at home against Old Dominion.