— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall men’s basketball is hoping home-cooking will be the recipe for victory on Monday as the Thundering Herd opens the home portion of its schedule against Tennessee Tech.
The game tips off at 7 p.m. at the Cam Henderson Center.
The Herd (0-1) dropped its opener at Queens University 83-82 in the Royals’ first game as a Division I school. Senior Taevion Kinsey had a double-double in the game with 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead Marshall, while junior guard Andrew Taylor added 20 points.
Marshall head coach Dan D’Antoni was not pleased with last Monday’s loss at Queens, but also found positives to take from the game, among them improved 3-point shooting and strong debuts from a pair of freshmen — center Micah Handlogten and guard Jacob Conner. Handlogten grabbed eight rebounds and had three blocks in his debut and Conner had 11 points in his first college game.
“It’s one game,” D’Antoni said. “Still, we played well and it assured me that we will win a bunch of games this year.”
Tennessee Tech is 1-1 on the young season and coming off of an 82-48 victory over Tennessee Wesleyan last Thursday. Tech opened the season a week ago with a 75-43 loss at No. 11 Tennessee.
The Golden Eagles are coached by John Pelphrey, who has ties to Marshall. A University of Kentucky alumnus, Pelphrey was a Marshall assistant coach under Billy Donovan from 1994-1996.
Pelphrey is in his fourth season at Tech and has a 26-66 record. He was previously head coach at both South Alabama and Arkansas.
The Golden Eagles have three double-figure scorers so far this season as Brett Thompson scored 15 points in his lone performance. Erik Oliver is averaging 13 points and Ty Perry chips in with 10. Oliver is a 3-point threat and has made 4 of 6 from behind in the young season.
Morehead State transfer Jaylen Sebree, who previously faced Marshall when he played at Florida Atlantic, is the Golden Eagles’ top rebounder at 7.5 boards per game.
After Monday’s game, Marshall hits the road for a Thursday game at Miami Ohio.