— By David Walsh
This time, Marshall won’t have to recount one that got away like so many games had of late while losing 13 of the previous 14 outings.
After some soul searching by the Thundering Herd players, and UTEP found out what can happen when Marshall does hit on all cylinders in their Conference USA matchup Sunday as the Thundering Herd knocked off the Miners, 88-79, in front of 4,129 fans at Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.
Marshall had four players score in double figures, got great bench production, and though Taevion Kinsey saw his long double-figure scoring streak end at 56 straight games, he totaled 11 assists. The Herd’s shooting stats read 31 of 55 and 11 of 22 on 3-pointers to match a season high.
“How about that?” a smiling Herd coach Dan D’Antoni said. “Just when you think that we’re dead, the kids respond. I said it’s never over until it’s over. The kids played much better, like they’re capable of playing.”
Marshall (9-16, 2-10 C-USA) is off until Thursday when Old Dominion visits. Game time is 7 p.m. at Cam Henderson Center. The Monarchs knocked off UAB, 81-72, Sunday.
Prayer meetings Friday allowed the Herd players and coaches to address what’s gone on of late in a positive manner. That was a stark contrast to last Thursday’s postgame address by Kinsey and D’Antoni after a home loss to Florida International.
“Didn’t pout, whine, point fingers,” D’Antoni said. “The energy was there. We came in with that energy, determined to do what we did tonight. The kids responded to the prayer meeting. We beat a team that’s hot in the conference. This is a tough place to play. When you get ball movement like that, I don’t care how fast you are. We’ll be a tough out (in the C-USA Tournament).
Goran Miladinovic, a 7-foot, 250-pound sophomore, stepped up and led Marshall with a career-high double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Andy Taylor and Mikel Beyers had 13 points each and Marco Sarenac scored 12 on 4 of 5 from long distance.
The Herd had a 26-10 edge in bench points and 36-24 edge in points in the paint.
“We showed up and played with energy,” Miladinovic said. “We brought the right energy today. I believe this is who we are and we can beat anybody. I know some things haven’t worked out. I hope we’re getting there now.”
“All doubters of Goran, he’s got talent,” D’Antoni said. “Can’t give up on him. This is going to help him. Before it’s all over, he’ll be a real asset to the program.”
Beyers, Kinsey, Sarenac and D’Antoni each got his with technical fouls. UTEP went on the bonus with 12:04 left in the second half. This time, though, Darius George made a three-pointer with 12:43 to play to break a 53-53 tie and start an 8-0 run for a 61-53 edge with 12:15 to go. The Miners (14-10, 7-5 C-USA) had to play catchup from that point and got no closer than five.
“We have to be a little smarter,” Miladinovic said. “Push through and keep our cool. We beat a pretty good team.”
Before Sunday, the lone bright was a home win over UAB back on Jan. 29.
“We’re athletic enough, long enough, big enough to play like this,” D’Antoni said. “We were lacking a fire focus to compete at this level.”
Souley Bloum and Jamal Bieniemy combined to score 55 of UTEP’s points. Bloum poured in 32 and Bieniemy 23. There was not much else in the way of production, and Miners coach Joe Golding didn’t like it.
“We did not deserve to win this game,” Golding said. “Marshall played great, total respect for Marshall. They out-coached us, outplayed us. Give credit to Marshall. We’ve been through a lot, and they continue to grind. They’re playing hard. Tonight it just wasn’t our night, and it wasn’t on them (team), it’s on me.”
For the promotion, UTEP’s coaching staff wore all black to represent unity and equal sign pin to symbolize equity.
UTEP leads the all-time series 11-8 and now is 6-3 at home. The Miners came in allowing 65.2 points a game, third best in the league.
This is probably the Herd’s last trip to El Paso for the near future since the school’s announced it’s leaving C-USA on June 30 for the Sun Belt Conference.