— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall had to put on its comeback hat yet again, made some second-half strides again, but had it knocked off again at the end — this time by Florida International.
The Panthers broke a 55-all tie with 6:47 left with a 7-0 run for a 62-55 advantage with 5:11 to play and they did enough to withstand Thundering Herd charges from that point to prevail, 72-71, in front of 3,779 fans Thursday night at the Cam Henderson Center.
“Am I (frustrated?). I am lost in words. I don’t know how to explain it,” Marshall coach Dan D’Antoni said. “We do things I’ve never witnessed or seen.
“It’s about competitiveness. “You have to have the type of resolve to get it done, and we have to find the toughness as a team to be disciplined when we have to be disciplined. We have to have the confidence to make plays.”
For the Panthers (14-11, 4-8 Conference USA), it’s their first road win of the season first win in Huntington and first regular-season sweep against Marshall.
The Thundering Herd (8-16, 1-10 C-USA) again came up with a way to let one slip away. That’s been the case so often of late except for the surprise home win over UAB, 84-81, on January 29 minus leading scorer Taevion Kinsey (injured foot).
The frustration appeared quite evident on Kinsey’s face when he addressed the media after the game.
“I understand the frustration. I’m frustrated, too,” Kinsey said. “I don’t really have much to say. I’m always here for you guys win or lose. Today, I don’t have much to say.”
Tevin Brewer led FIU with 20 points. The Panthers led for all but 4:01.
Denver Jones added 16, Clevon Brown 15 and Eric Lovett 11 as the visitors ended a two-game skid.
Each team committed 20 turnovers, but the Panthers capitalized more as they won the points off turnovers battle, 25-14.
Andrew Taylor led Marshall with 22 points. Kinsey finished with 14 to extend his double-figure scoring streak to 56.
Marshall’s next game is at 3 p.m. Sunday at UTEP.