Flat start haunts Herd in 77-67 loss at Louisiana

— By David Walsh

Marshall learned a lesson Saturday night in its highly-anticipated battle against Louisiana for a share of first place in the Sun Belt Conference.

The Ragin’ Cajuns scored the first two points of the game and led from that point on and defeated the Thundering Herd, 77-67, on Senior Night in front of a season-high 5,351 fans at the Cajundome in Lafayette, La.

Louisiana keeps a share of the league lead with Southern Miss at 10-2. The Ragin’ Cajuns are 20-4 overall with their 10th straight league win. Marshall falls to 19-5, 8-4 in the Sun Belt.

“We didn’t come out ready to play like they did,” Marshall coach Dan D’Antoni said on postgame radio. “This was not a normal game. We let them take it to us.”

Jordan Brown, a 6-foot-11 senior and transfer from Arizona, led the Ragin’ Cajuns with 26 points and 20 rebounds for a double-double. Micah Handlogten, the Herd’s 7-1 freshman, started on Brown and got into foul trouble and eventually fouled out. Obinna Anochili-Killen also spent time guarding the big man.

Greg Williams Jr. added 20 points and Themus Fulks 12 as the Ragin’ Cajuns stretched their home win streak to 12.

For the Herd, Taevion Kinsey, the leading scorer in the league, led the way with 28 points. He was the only player in double figures as Anochili-Killen and guard Kamdyn Curfman netted nine each. Guard Andrew Taylor suffered through a tough evening with seven points. He began the night No. 2 in the league in scoring at 19.7 per game.

“We were not pressing them,” D’Antoni said. “We didn’t make it hard to get the ball to him (Brown). They got into Andy. He didn’t have his typical game. Give them credit. They jumped on him.”

Kinsey agreed with his coach about the missing early spark.

“It was us. We came out flat. It’s their Senior Night and you can’t come out flat like that,” Kinsey said. “It starts with me. I’m a leader and didn’t bring my best energy to pass to the team. I take full responsibility. The takeaway is we’ve got to bring it every single game.”

In the first half, Louisiana led by as much as 14 at 30-16. In the second half, Fulks hit a jumper to put the Ragin’ Cajuns up 18 at 51-33.

Marshall battled back and got within seven at 56-49 with 6:15 to play on a shot in the paint by Taylor. Then the Ragin’ Cajuns went on a 7-0 run to regain the upper hand at 63-49. Williams had a three-point play, Fulks made a layup and Williams sank two free throws in the surge.

“We had to fight too hard to come back,” D’Antoni said. “We have to be as aggressive as they were. We learned a big lesson. Bring it and bring it early.”

“We tried to turn it on in the second half,” Kinsey said. “You can’t do that. It’s a mental thing. You can’t pick and choose when you turn it on and off. They’re a great team. They executed their stuff. We tried in the second half. Sometimes it’s too little too late.”

D’Antoni watched Louisiana regain its composure once the Herd got to within seven.

“A couple of things we didn’t come through on,” D’Antoni said. “We had to be perfect. We didn’t play the way we have to at the start of a game. We’ll learn from it. We’ll keep grinding and see what happens.”

Marshall’s current four-game road trip continues Thursday with a contest against Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C.  Start time is 7 p.m. The swing ends next Saturday against Georgia State in Atlanta. That tip is set for 2 p.m.

Louisiana also enjoyed the edge in several other categories. The Ragin’ Cajuns led in rebounds, 47-25 (16-8 on offense); second-chance points, 15-7; points in the paint, 48-30; and fastbreak points, 22-6.

The teams are tied 4-4 in the overall series. Louisiana is now 3-1 at home.

Veteran Louisiana coach Bob Marlin has ties to Marshall. He was an assistant on Dana Altman’s staff at Marshall in 1989-90.





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