— by David Walsh
Marshall coach Dan D’Antoni’s demeanor didn’t change much from his postgame radio interview and later visit with the media via Zoom call.
“Am I angry? Yes. Am I hurt? Yes. I’m where I ought to be when this happens,” D’Antoni said to Herd play-by-play voice Steve Cotton.
The Thundering Herd scored the first two points of the game, Georgia Southern responded with a 3-pointer with 18:24 on the clock to take the lead for good and then hang on to defeat Marshall, 81-76, in Sun Belt Conference action Thursday night at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Ga.
The Eagles shot lights out in the first half, once leading by 19 at 47-28 only to see the Herd to close within 12 by intermission (48-36). The home team made 21-of-30 shots in the first 20 minutes.
Marshall got on the comeback train in the second half and actually got within two points at 78-76 with 1:06 to play on a follow shot by 7-foot-1 freshman Micah Handlogten. From that point, the Herd would not score again. Instead, an offensive foul by Taevion Kinsey, a turnover by Andrew Taylor and missed layup by Taylor thwarted the rally as Georgia Southern struggled at the foul line. The Eagles finally got a free throw by Jalen Finch and two from Kaden Archie with four seconds left to secure the win.
Finch drew the foul on Kinsey.
“Decided to take a chance,” Finch said on the postgame radio show for the Eagles. “I knew we needed a stop. They were coming quick. Saw him go hard to the basket with his head down. The call went in our favor.”
Georgia Southern is 10-6 overall and 3-0 in the Sun Belt. Marshall, which has lost two straight for the first time this season, is 12-4 overall and 1-2 in the league.
“We didn’t come ready to play. No intensity,” D’Antoni said. “We’re not the team that won 12 games. Not playing together, not playing mentally well.”
Eagles coach Brian Burg offered his view.
“Took care of business at home,” Burg said. “Thought they came out with a lot of fire in that first half.”
Marshall has a quick turnaround as Coastal Carolina visits Huntington on Saturday. Tip at Cam Henderson Center is 3:30 p.m. Georgia Southern is home Saturday afternoon against Old Dominion. The Monarchs lost to Troy on Thursday.
The first-half effort got D’Antoni riled up, especially the way the Eagles shot (70 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point range).
“Ridiculous,” D’Antoni said. “Some reason we start trapping everything at first, I call time and we come back and still do it,” he said later on the Zoom call. “We got outrebounded by 12 (14 actually). That tells me we’re not moving, we’re not quick. We were not on all cylinders to begin with. We’ve got to come ready to play.”
Georgia Southern had a 42-28 edge in rebounds (13-10 on the offensive end) against one of the league’s best rebounding teams and 56-40 advantage in points in the paint.
Then there were the missed opportunities by the Herd after it closed to within two and the Eagles struggled to make game-icing free throws. They were 8-of-17 and the Herd 6-of-13.
“We’re down 19 and at the end we have chances to tie or win,” D’Antoni said. “Gave them a lot of freedom. Andy missed a layup, a better play than I could’ve called. Tae goes to the basket, what he tried to do and gets the charge. We just have to execute better. Missed the front end of some 1-and-1s toward the end of the game. When you dig a hole like that, everything has to be perfect from there on in. That doesn’t happen often.”
And the issues with free throws?
“We shoot them every day. We seem to make them in practice,” D’Antoni said. “I don’t know what to tell you. Get up there with a blank slate in your mind, know what you’ve worked on in practice. Let what worked continue, don’t let the mind take it out.”
Kinsey led the Herd with 22 points including the last 13 of the first half. Taylor had 18 and Handlogten 12 along with 12 rebounds for a double-double.
Andre Savrasov paced the Eagles with 18 points. Finch had 17 and eight assists, both season highs. Tai Strickland netted 13, Archie 12 and Kamari Brown 10.