— By David Walsh
Marshall, in catchup mode, got even with Middle Tennessee State at 61 with 1:19 left in Conference USA action Thursday night at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Then the Blue Raiders got a clutch 3-pointer from Josh Jefferson with 1:01 on the clock to put them ahead to stay at 64-61. From that point, they got their final 10 points at the foul line and held off the Thundering Herd, 74-65, to extend their home win streak to 13 in a row this season and 15 overall counting back to last year.
Middle Tennessee (21-7, 12-3 C-USA) leads the league’s East Division. Marshall falls to 11-18, 4-12 in C-USA.
Middle Tennessee only made 19-of-55 shots (including just four threes), but cashed in at the foul line with a 32 of 35 night, including 26 of 27 in the second half.
Marshall had 24 field goals, including six threes, but went to the line just 12 times and made 11 (all in the second half).
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to put it together,” Herd guard Andrew Taylor said. “We’ve got a lot of weapons if we put it together.”
Marshall trailed 45-36 with 12:14 left, then stormed back to pull even at 61-61. Then it was the Blue Raiders who made the most of the opportunities down the stretch.
“We’re still beating ourselves,” Herd coach Dan D’Antoni said. “It’s promising if we just clean up half of them (mistakes). We have three or four hiccups, they go in and score when we could’ve pulled away. It’s all about what we’re doing.”
Marshall held a 34-26 lead with 17:20 left only to see the Blue Raiders go on a 19-2 run to take a 45-36 advantage.
Taylor led Marshall with 24 points. Obinna Anochili-Killen added 14 and Taevion Kinsey and Mikel Beyers had 10 each.
Eli Lawrence paced the Blue Raiders with 18 points. Donovan Sims added 13, but he had just one basket and 11 of 11 at the foul line. Jefferson scored 10, the highlight the three-pointer for the lead for good.
Middle Tennessee also enjoyed a 25-3 lead in bench points.
“Mental mistakes. Not forced turnovers,” D’Antoni said. “We’re there. We can’t, though, if we don’t have more discipline and a lot better decision-making during the game. We had plenty of opportunities to win this ball game.”
Marshall’s next game is March 2 at home against Western Kentucky. Tip if 7 p.m. at Cam Henderson Center. It’s the final home game of the season. The rivals play part two of the back-to-back set on March 5 at Bowling Green. That tip is 3 p.m.
Thursday’s game featured a Block Cancer promotion. Both teams wore special warmup in support of the Mike Slive Foundation.
Middle Tennessee gets the season-sweep and now leads the overall series 13-9.
As of Wednesday, Middle Tennessee was on one of largest year-over-year turnarounds, having improved on last year by 15, tied with Wake Forest for third-most in country. Towson led with 17 and Iowa State followed with 16.