— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — No game would get away from Marshall this night.
The Thundering Herd put on a show for the sellout crowd, including happy alumni/former players, and rolled past Georgia State, 103-65, in Sun Belt Conference action Saturday night at Cam Henderson Center.
Marshall (18-5, 7-3 Sun Belt) made 21-of-33 shots in the first half (60 percent) as it stormed to a 56-29 lead. Not much changed in the half as the Herd snapped back from a double-overtime loss to ULM on Thursday night at home. Aymeric Toussaint’s putback with 4:35 left put the Herd at 100 much to the approval of the sellout crowd of 5,711. After that basket, the Herd scored just three points the rest of the way, but the Panthers were destined for a fourth straight loss.
“Tough night at the office,” first-year Panthers coach Jonas Hayes said. “Marshall is a really good team, maybe the best in our league, and they were hitting on all cylinders. The road has not been kind to us, but we have to continue to grow and learn through adversity.”
Marshall had six players hit double figures. Andy Taylor led the way with 20. Taevion Kinsey and Obinna Anochili-Killen added 18 each, Kamdyn Curfman and Micah Handlogten 11 each and Jacob Conner 10.
“I love the crowd, love the fact we got our players back,” Herd coach Dan D’Antoni said. “It was a dream when I came back to get that same atmosphere. It’s a good family atmosphere. I appreciate the fan base. Great game to do that with. There were a lot of highlights out there. Everybody got to play. The hardest thing a coach does is to get minutes for everyone who came here.”
Jamaine Mann scored 12 for the Panthers (9-13, 2-8 Sun Belt). He was the only visitor to reach double figures. Joe Jones pulled down a season-high 14 rebounds.
Marshall ruled from start to finish. On Thursday, the Herd saw leads late in regulation and first overtime get away against ULM and went down in two overtimes, 86-82.
“Had the energy,” D’Antoni said. “Can’t let up. There are critical plays we have to make when they (Warhawks) were shooting like they were. We had the opportunities, but didn’t come through. We missed Obinna at the end of the game and OT and we didn’t do the basketball things that would’ve got us the win.”
Georgia State had a season-high 23 turnovers and the Herd scored 34 points off the State mistakes. The Panthers made just 9-of-28 shots in the first half. They out-rebounded the Herd, 43-37, and that included a 22-10 advantage on the offensive glass.
Kinsey appeared in his 145th game for the Herd, a growing program record. He set the mark of 144 on Thursday night.
Marshall’s next four games are on the road. The trip starts Thursday against Appalachian State in Boone, N.C. Tip is 7 p.m. It continues Saturday at Louisiana with the start at 8 p.m.
“You have to bring that championship level,” D’Antoni said. “What’s important is we win. Everybody plays a little differently. Appy is playing better basketball now. Don’t shortchange winning. Don’t shortchange getting prepared. We’ve got to play like that every night. When we do play, we’re a difficult team.”