— By David Walsh
For the second straight game, Marshall saw an opponent make a big first-half run for a sizable advantage at the break and keep pouring it on in the second half to make another Honor Day a success.
Charlotte capitalized on a 17-5 burst in the first half to take the lead at the break, 40-22, over Marshall and then stretched things out in the second for an 88-64 win in Conference USA action in front of 3,451 fans on Lee Rose Day at Halton Arena in Charlotte. Rose is a former head coach of the 49ers who took them to the Final Four in 1977.
Throw in the Thundering Herd’s Taevion Kinsey showed up in street clothes as he battles a foot injury. That’s 20 points out of the lineup. He missed last Saturday’s home game against UAB, but the Herd rallied around the misfortune to win.
Herd coach Dan D’Antoni received two technical fouls before 2 minutes elapsed in the second half and was ejected.
“We can’t sustain breaks against us. We’re not strong enough, good enough to overcome those things,” D’Antoni said. “Most teams I’ve had can overcome that. Somehow we’ve got to figure out a way out of this.”
Marshall (8-15, 1-9 C-USA) is off until Thursday when Florida international visits. Tip if 7 p.m. at Cam Henderson Center. Next Sunday, the Herd goes to UTEP for a matinee at 3 p.m.
Andrew Taylor led the Herd with a career-high 28 points and Obinna Anochili-Killen followed with 14. Not much after that. Shooting once again was a nightmare compared to what Charlotte did. Herd numbers were 24-of-58 and 5-of-27 from three.
“You can’t shoot 13 percent (first half) from three and expect to win,” D’Antoni said. “The shots looked pretty good.”
Conversely, Charlotte (12-9, 5-4 C-USA) couldn’t miss. The 49ers shot 32-of-61 (52.5 percent) and 13-of-19 from behind the arc (64.8 percent). They made eight of 10 bombs in the second half. The top shooting free-throw team in the league hit 11-of-13.
Jahmir Young finished with 24 points, 20 in the first half. Robert Braswell (off the bench) and Aly Khalifa netted 16 each. Jackson Threadgill had 12 and Clyde Trapp 11.
Taylor said he’d trade all the points for a win.
“We’re just looking for a win,” Taylor said. “A lot of things we need to fix. A lot of guys come from top high school teams (Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia) and never been on a team with a losing record. This is a huge learning experience. Forget the motivational talks. You do it yourself. Grow and adapt.”
D’Antoni got the two technical fouls before two minutes elapsed in the second half. He again pointed to the youth of his team compared to such as experienced squad like Charlotte.
“Well keep pressing forward,” D’Antoni said. “Scheme your way out of this? No. We’ve played this way before now (won C-USA title and NCAA Tournament game) and we’ve won. We’ve proven we can win. The (young) guys have to realize the level of intensity it takes. I hope our fans will be patient. We’ll play it out to the last shot.”
In the first half, the Herd led 5-2 with 17:50 left and then managed just 17 points the rest of the way.
Rose coached Charlotte from 1975-78 and won two Sun Belt titles in addition to going to the NCAA Tournament and reaching the Final Four in 1977. He did not attend (battling health issues), but wife Eleanor did. She got recognized at halftime. The current Charlotte team presented her with a signed basketball. Former 49ers players attended as well.
Old Dominion honored former coach and Marshall graduate Sonny Allen on Thursday night’s game against the Herd in Norfolk. The Monarchs won, 79-64.