Marshall

Conference USA Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:59:49 -0500

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Conference Rank: 11th

10 year average: 8th

All-CUSA Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Stefon Jackson	UTEP	Sr
G	Robert Vaden	UAB	Sr
G	Tyreke Evans	Memphis	Fr
G	Jermaine Taylor	Central Florida	Sr
F	Jerome Jordan	Tulsa	Jr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
CHN All-Americans Robert Vaden High-Major All-Americans Stefon Jackson Jerome Jordan Jermaine Taylor Ben Uzoh Robert Vaden Jeremy Wise All-Freshman Team Tyreke Evans		Points: Stefon Jackson 23.6 Rebounds: Jerome Jordan 7.9 Assists: Jeremy Wise 4.2 Team: Memphis 79.9

Conference USA Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

?	Memphis**	CUSA	1	NCAA
47	UAB	CUSA	2	NCAA
68	Southern Miss	CUSA	3	NIT
75	UTEP	CUSA	4	NIT
106	Tulsa	CUSA	5
119	Marshall	CUSA	6
131	UCF	CUSA	7
137	Houston	CUSA	8
185	Tulane	CUSA	9
221	East Carolina	CUSA	10
260	SMU	CUSA	11
285	Rice	CUSA	12

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the CUSA?

Other CUSA Content

Head Coach Interviews

Larry Eustachy: Southern Miss

Mack McCarthy: East Carolina

Other

Rise & Fall: CUSA

Top Non-BCS Players: Vaden/Evans

Top Centers: Jerome Jordan

Conference USA on National TV

College Football: Houston @ Marshall Preview

Raphielle Johnson — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:05:42 -0400

Two games on the schedule for tonight, with both being conference affairs that the road team could definitely use to stay in their respective divisional races. Houston, despite a slow start to the season, may be the only thing standing between Tulsa and a cakewalk to the Conference USA title game. And in the wide-open MAC East, Buffalo could cement themselves as one of the favorites while dealing Ohio a devastating blow with a win in Athens. At the least, it'll give people a commercial break diversion from opening night in the NBA.

Buffalo @ Ohio 7:30 PM EST on ESPNU

Two teams that are in the middle of the pack when it comes to total offense face off in Athens. Buffalo (3-4, 1-2 MAC) ranks slightly ahead of the Bobcats (2-6, 1-3) in total offense (7th to Ohio's 8th), but when looking at the quarterbacks it's hard to figure out how Ohio has the league's fifth-ranked pass offense. Buffalo's Drew Willy ranks third in the conference in passing and has fourteen touchdown passes to just four interceptions on the year. Boo Jackson runs the show for Frank Solich's Bobcats and is the league's seventh-ranked passer. But with nine touchdowns and eight picks on the year, Jackson has had issues valuing the football at times.

In fact that could be said for Ohio as a whole, given their ranking of twelfth in the MAC in turnover margin. Along with that is the fact that the Bobcats are dead last in the league in penalties, giving up some sixty-seven yards per game. This shouldn't be as ugly as Ohio's last national television appearance (a hard-to-watch close loss at Temple), but the Bulls should win this game. But given the state of the MAC East (each team has at least two conference losses), it wouldn't be a surprise if Coach Solich beat fellow Husker Turner Gill.

Houston @ Marshall 8PM EST on ESPN2

Quick: which team leads Conference USA in pass offense? You're probably thinking Tulsa, and while they do lead the league in scoring and total offense the answer is actually Kevin Sumlin's Houston Cougars (4-3, 3-0 Conference USA). Led by QB Case Keenum, the Cougars average an impressive 403 yards/game through the air, and that's been a key reason for their current four-game win streak. Another key for Houston of late has been turnovers. In losses to Oklahoma State, Air Force and Colorado State the Cougars were rather generous with the football. That's changed and as a result the offense has been all the more effective.

As for the Thundering Herd (3-4, 2-1), they still entertain thoughts of winning the West Division despite a disappointing loss at UAB last week. And it helps that they get both Houston and Tulsa at home. But if a mediocre defense (7th in total defense, 11th in sacks) can't step up and an offense led by WR Darius Passmore and RB Darius Marshall doesn't stay on the field longer than they have this year (time of possession: 27:10; ranks 11th in C-USA) this one could get ugly. Marshall hangs in there for a bit but the Cougars make it four straight losses for Mark Snyder's Herd.

- Tyrone Willingham out at Washington.

Not really big news here, for Willingham was 11-32 in four years in Seattle. Injuries and a lack of depth did in Willingham, who will finish out the season while AD Scott Woodward begins his search for a new head coach. It's been said that former USC assistant and Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin is interested in the position. There were also rumors earlier in the season that the Huskies could talk to Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel, who is an alum and coached there under Don James.

- Northwestern RB Tyrell Sutton out for the regular season.

Due to a wrist injury suffered in the Wildcats' loss at Indiana on Saturday, star running back Tyrell Sutton will miss the remainder of the regular season. Sutton will have surgery today, and his injury became bigger when it was announced that QB C.J. Bacher is questionable for their game at Minnesota due to a leg injury.

- Wisconsin TE Travis Beckum also done for the year.

A tough year for Beckum, who just couldn't stay healthy after a hamstring injury cost him time early, has come to an end thanks to a broken fibula suffered in the Badgers' win over Illinois. Surgery was a success for Beckum, who was a favorite to win the Mackey Award as the nation's best tight end before the season began.

- The bye week couldn't come at a better time for Virginia Tech.

It's bad enough that the Hokie offense has been scuffling all year long. But to add ankle injuries to both Tyrod Taylor ans Sean Glennon is to add injury to insult. Cory Holt, who was listed on the depth chart as a wide receiver, finished the 30-20 loss at Florida State. Both Taylor and Glennon are questionable right now for their game next Thursday against Maryland.

Holt went 3-6 for 28 yards and a touchdown in the game, but the Seminole defense (especially the line) had their way with Tech all afternoon. But instead of simply focusing on fixing the offense, head coach Frank Beamer and offensive coordinator Brian Stinespring have to worry about the health of their quarterbacks.

College Football: #8 BYU @ Utah State Preview

Raphielle Johnson — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 03:07:48 -0400

#15 Utah was able to escape by the slimmest of margins, with a Louie Sakoda field goal as time expired giving the Utes a 31-28 win over Oregon State and the Mountain West a 6-1 record against the Pac-10 this year. But while Utah was lucky to escape with a win, #10 USF wasn't so lucky with LeSean McCoy leading Pittsburgh to the 26-21 win. McCoy ran for 142 yards and two touchdowns, and contrary to my prediction Pitt's Bill Stull was the best quarterback on the field.

Now 2-0 in Big East play, the Panthers look to be worthy of the conference title talk that surrounded the program back in August. And in the third game of the evening, Memphis won at UAB 33-30 thanks to a Vinny Zaccario field goal with two seconds remaining. The Tigers, who are now winners of the "Battle for the Bones", are now back at .500 on the season and have their first conference win of 2008. Here are the previews for tomorrow's action, headlined by Cincinnati visiting a dangerous Marshall team without their top two quarterbacks.

#8 BYU (4-0) @ Utah State (1-3), 8PM EST on KJZZ or BYU-TV

Although the Aggies looked pretty good in their blowout home win over Idaho heading into their bye week, I can't fool anyone into thinking they've got a shot in this one. Utah walked into Logan sluggish at the start back on September 13th...and all the Utes did was win 58-10. Look for QB Max Hall to put up some solid numbers in a Cougar win.

Cincinnati (3-1) @ Marshall (3-2), 8 PM EST on ESPN2

The Bearcats didn't look too good in beating Akron on the road last weekend, and now they visit a Thundering Herd team that gave Wisconsin all they wanted for about a half in their trip to Madison last month. Yes, Mark Snyder's team ended up getting handled in the second stanza, but that was in a hostile environment against a top-level team in good health. Cincinnati, on the other hand, is down to either Chazz Anderson or Zach Collaros under center after losing both Dustin Grutza and Tony Pike to injury.

But whoever gets the call from head coach Brian Kelly will have a capable group of wide receivers, most notably Mardy Gilyard, Dominick Goodman and Marcus Barnett. And they've got an excellent pair of corners in Mike Mickens and DeAngelo Smith, who will have their hands full with one Darius Passmore.

Marshall enters the game on a two-game win streak that has them perched atop the C-USA East Division standings at 2-0. Passmore is a handful for opponents, and he was named Conference USA Co-Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against Southern Miss last weekend. But keep an eye on RB Darius Marshall, who ranks fourth in Conference USA in rushing.

While Cincinnati overall may have more talent it's going to be tough for either redshirt freshman quarterback to get the job done on the road, especially against a team that looks to be hitting its stride. Marshall pulls the upset.

Marshall Basketball Schedule: 08-09

Press Release — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:11:16 -0400

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall University head men's basketball coach Donnie Jones announced today the Thundering Herd's 2008-09 schedule, which features a 16-game Conference USA slate and 31 regular season contests overall - nearly half of which will come against teams that competed in postseason play a season ago.

Marshall's schedule will see the Herd play 16 games at the Cam Henderson Center while 15 of its 31 overall games will come against teams that qualified for a postseason tournament in 2008, highlighted by its C-USA opener on the road at NCAA runner-up Memphis on Jan. 7. Other NCAA Tournament teams that the Herd will face include Sweet 16 team West Virginia (Jan. 14), West Coast Conference champion San Diego (Jan. 2) and Southland Conference champ Texas-Arlington (Dec. 13).

National Invitational Tournament (NIT) teams that dot the Herd's schedule this season include Ole Miss (Nov. 23), Morgan State (Nov. 21), Dayton (Dec. 23) and UAB (Jan. 31 and March 7). Ole Miss was an NIT Final Four participant last April. Marshall will face College Basketball Invitational (CBI) champion and C-USA rival Tulsa twice next season, Jan. 17 at Tulsa and Feb. 4 in Huntington. The Herd will challenge four other teams that participated in the inaugural CBI, including Old Dominion (Nov. 29), Ohio (Dec. 17), UTEP (Feb. 14) and Houston (Feb. 18) - all at the Henderson Center.

Jones, who guided the Herd to its first winning campaign (16-14) in seven seasons as a rookie head coach last year, will open his second year at Marshall at the Henderson Center versus WVU Tech (Nov. 16) in the opening game of the second annual Glenn Wilkes Classic. Marshall will then travel to Daytona Beach, Fla., for the remaining three games of the GWC, where the Herd will face three teams in three days, from Nov. 21-23, versus Morgan State, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Ole Miss."We're very excited about the challenge our non-conference schedule brings," Jones said. "Having the opportunity to play in a preseason tournament should help prime us for our conference tournament at the end of the season."Our schedule helps prepare us for a very competitive and intense Conference USA schedule. We have several games on the road that will challenge our team early in competitive environments. We also look forward to having some very good non-conference opponents in the Henderson Center."The Herd will return home to take on Old Dominion (Nov. 29) for the first time since 1977 and former Southern Conference rival East Tennessee State (Dec. 2). A trip to Boston, Mass., follows as the Herd will face the Boston University Terriers on Dec. 6 in a rematch of a Herd win versus BU in Huntington last November.

Marshall will then begin a grueling stretch in which seven of its next 10 opponents played postseason basketball last season, beginning with home dates versus Texas-Arlington (Dec. 13) and Ohio (Dec. 17). A game with University of The Cumberlands (Dec. 20) precedes Marshall's trip to the University of Dayton to face the Flyers (Dec. 23). The game will mark the Herd's first trip to UD since Dec. 2, 2000, when MU upset the 24th-ranked Flyers 67-65 at UD Arena - the only time in MU history that it claimed a road win against a top-25 team.

MU will gear up for its first ever matchup with Tennessee State (Dec. 28) prior to departing for San Diego, Calif., for a matchup against the Toreros (Jan. 2). The Herd upended USD, who knocked off No. 4 seed Connecticut in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, by 16 points at the Henderson Center last New Year's Eve. Marshall's conference opener at Memphis (Jan. 7) is followed by its C-USA home-opener vs. East Carolina (Jan. 10). The Herd and WVU Mountaineers will continue the annual Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic in Charleston, W.Va., on Jan. 14 before Marshall departs for the first of two dates with CBI champ Tulsa (Jan. 17).

Marshall's remaining C-USA home dates include SMU (Jan. 21), UAB (Jan. 31), Tulsa (Feb. 4), Tulane (Feb. 7), Houston (Feb. 18), UCF (Feb. 28) and Rice (March 4). The Herd's remaining C-USA road schedule consists of UCF (Jan. 25), Southern Miss (Jan. 27), UTEP (Feb. 14), Tulane (Feb. 21), East Carolina (Feb. 25) and UAB (March 7).

Marshall will engage Rio Grande (Feb. 10) at the Henderson Center for the second straight season in the year's final non-conference tilt.

The 2009 C-USA Championship will once again be played at the FedExForum in Memphis. The tournament tips off on March 11, with the championship game to be played on March 14.

Marshall will play an exhibition game in advance of the regular season when it welcomes Wheeling Jesuit of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to the Henderson Center on Nov. 1.

Marshall's appearance in the Glenn Wilkes Classic elicits four games for the Herd, but the event serves as an exempt tournament (only counts as one game) on the schedule. The Herd's 31 scheduled regular season games are tied as the third most in MU history with the 1947-48 team. MU's 1945-46 team played a record 35 regular season games while the 1946-47 team played 32 contests.

A complete list of starting times and television appearances are yet to be determined and will be announced at a later date.

2008-09 Marshall Basketball Preview: #119

Joel Welser — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:49:45 -0400

Marshall Thundering Herd

Overall Rank: #119

Conference Rank: #6 C-USA

2007-08: 16-14, 8-8, 6^th

2007-08 postseason: none

Marshall struggled to string together wins last year, never garnering more than three in a row. However, the Thundering Herd never lost more than two in a row. By definition, that is pretty much average. It might be more of the same, but with a few talented transfers heading into the program, Coach Donnie Jones’ squad has the potential to make some noise in Conference USA.

Who’s Out:

Yet, there will be a lot of new faces. Guard Mark Dorris was the team’s leading scorer and backcourt mates Matt Walls, Pierre-Marie Altidor-Cespedes and Taurean Marshall all played important roles. Big men Robbie Jackson, Jean Francois Bro-Grebe and Jesse Oglesby did not play that many minutes, but they were good for a few fouls and rebounds.

Who’s In:

The losses on the perimeter are the big ones and Marshall has some newcomers ready to step in and play a big role on this team right away. Chris Lutz should have the largest impact. The transfer from Purdue is a superb shooter from long range and hit 47.2 percent of his attempts with the Boilermakers two years ago. When he is on, Lutz can light up the scoreboard in a big hurry. Damier Pitts and Shaquille Johnson highlight the class of incoming freshmen. Pitts, a point guard, has the basketball IQ and the skills to be a leader very soon, maybe even this year. Johnson, a 6-3 guard, can do a little bit of everything and has the skills to run the point or play either spot on the wing. Forward Kore White rounds out the group of talented freshmen. White is expected to develop into a dynamic post player before his days at Marshall are done and can immediately help on the glass and on the defensive end. Brandon Powell, a 6-3 guard, and Octavius Spann, a 6-6 forward, are eligible to play this year after transferring in from Florida and Georgetown, respectively. Add Marcus Goode to the mix, who did not play last year for academic reasons, and the Thundering Herd have a ton of quality depth.

Who to Watch:

Most of the returning talent is in the frontcourt. Markel Humphrey, Tirrell Baines and Tyler Wilkerson all averaged between 9.2 and 13.1 points and 5.6 to 5.9 rebounds per contest. At 6-5, Humphrey is the small forward who can get to the basket and occasionally hit the outside shot. Baines is a little undersized for a four in C-USA, but he definitely does not play like it. Baines will use his quickness and athleticism to blow by opposing defenders and he has a knack for grabbing offensive boards. Wilkerson is the biggest of the bunch and swatted away one shot per game last year. He also has the ability to step outside and hit the mid-range jump shot and that makes him quite difficult to guard.

Final Projection:

Can Darryl Merthie run the show or will the Herd have to depend on freshmen to lead the team? Merthie is a good scorer and can at least hit the outside shot to keep the opposing defenses honest, but now he will have to become a senior leader and create for his teammates. If that does not happen, Pitts and Johnson will have to grow up in a hurry. Those two freshmen certainly have the skills to run the point effectively, but having a senior leader like Merthie step up into a bigger role will be very important for the new look backcourt. If Merthie has a big year, so will the Herd. If he does not, the team can still be successful, but it is always dangerous to depend on freshmen…no matter how talented they are.

Projected Post-season Tournament: none

Projected Starting Five:

Darryl Merthie, Senior, Guard, 8.1 points per game

Chris Lutz, Junior, Guard, DNP last season

Markel Humphrey, Senior, Forward, 13.1 points per game

Tirrell Baines, Sophomore, Forward, 11.5 points per game

Tyler Wilkerson, Junior, Forward, 9.2 points per game

Complete Top 144 Ranking | 2008-09 Preview & Awards | Coach Interviews | Discuss the Preview

Wright State Wins Foul Shooting Contest With Marshall

Bill Kintner — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 01:15:28 -0500

Dayton –- If you wanted rhythm tonight you had to go to a jazz club, because with 50 fouls called on Wright State and Marshall leading to 64 free throws, the teams could not get into any kind of rhythm or flow in this game.

In between standing around and watching foul shots Wright State managed to pull out a win 77-70 against a pesky Marshall team in this free throw shooting contest.

For the first seven minutes of the game Wright State looked a little nervous as they missed shots and turned the ball over four times in the first four minutes. At the same time some hot Marshall 3-point shooting including two by Taureen Marshall propelled the Thundering Herd to an 18-11 lead, which was their largest of the game.

Timely foul shooting and tough defense allowed Wright State to finally tie the game 21-21 with 5:15 left in the half when Todd Brown hit a short jump shot which brought the crowd of 4113 alive at Wright State’s Nutter Center.

With just three seconds to go in the first half and the Raiders leading 28-26, Vaughn Duggins fed a pass to Todd Brown who sunk a 3-pointer to give Wright State a 31-26 halftime lead.

Raider coach Brad Brownell thought his team showed a lot of character even though they were a little cold early on.

“We were a little edgy early and we probably quick-shot a little bit. We looked like a team that maybe hadn’t played offensively and been in game situations, but as the game wore on we looked a lot better,” said Brownell.
Aside from standing around during foul shots, at the 16:51 mark in the first half the players stood around for three minutes as the officials figured out the basket interference called on Wright State on a 3-point shot by J.F. Bro Grebe. As it was explained, that means a Raider player hit the basket before the shot causing it to sway, which interfered with Bro Grebe’s shot.

It took just nine seconds into the second half for the first foul to be called on Marshall’s Tyler Wilkenson. The Raiders got the ball back and Scottie Wilson sunk a short jump shot as the Raiders went up by seven points at 33-26.
A minute later Marshall’s Markel Humphrey buried a 3-pointer to cut it to a four point Raider lead at 33-29 and that is as close the Herd would get the rest of the game.

Marshall made five runs including three in the last three minutes of the game to cut the Wright State lead to five points, but each time the Raiders would respond with an offensive outburst to push open the lead back up. The last run was with just 27 seconds and the Raiders leading 75-67. Marshall’s Marshall ( I like the sound of that) hit a 3-pointer to get it to 75-70.

Marshall’s Adam Williams fouled Duggins with 18 seconds remaining and he sunk both free throws get the final score to 77-70.

“Anytime we tried to crawl back into the game they would make big plays. That is what you do when you are at home and you have to try to keep that from happening on the road,” explained Marshall coach Donnie Jones.

Brown led the Raiders and all scorers with 23 points and Duggins scored 20 points.

For Marshall Mark Dorris scored 20 points and Marshall chipped in 15 points.

Notes:
-The all-time series between Marshall and Wright State is tied 1-1.
-During the game an enterprising father trying to save $15 sent his very young son over to Dayton Daily news writer Marc Katz to ask him in a sweet voice for his media guide. For the record, Marc hung tough and refused to hand it over.
-Marshall plays next on Saturday at home against nearby Morehead State at 8 pm.
-Wright State plays next on Saturday at Marist at 7:30 pm.

2007-08 Marshall Basketball Schedule

Press Release — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 21:12:22 -0400

November
13 Pikeville College
20 East Tennessee State
25 Boston University
28 @ Wright State

December
1 Morehead State
4 @ East Tennessee State
14 Rio Grande
18 @ Louisiville
22 Princeton
29 Lipscomb
31 San Diego

January
5 Winthrop
9 @ Rice
12 Memphis
16 @ East Carolina
19 UAB
23 vs West Virginia (@ Charleston, WV)
26 @ Houston
30 Tulsa

February
2 @ UAB
6 @ Central Florida
9 East Carolina
13 @ SMU
16 Tulane
20 UTEP
23 Central Florida

March
1 @ Tulsa
5 @ Tulane
8 Southern Miss
12-15 Conference USA Tourney (@ Memphis, TN)

Complete Top 144 Ranking | 2007-08 Preview | College Basketball Schedule | Discuss the Preview

Chris Lutz Leaving Purdue for Marshall

Jeff Borzello — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 07:34:35 -0400

Hofstra Avoids 0-4 Start

Press Release — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 15:56:02 -0500

Anchorage, AK - Junior guard Antoine Agudio had 28 points, and senior guard Loren Stokes added 21 as the Hofstra Men's Basketball team captured a 73-70 win over Marshall in the second round of the Great Alaska Shootout on Friday
afternoon at Sullivan Arena.

With the win the Pride improves to 1-3 on the season and will next play host Alaska-Anchorage on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the fourth-place game of the Great Alaska Shootout. Marshall slips to 1-3 with the loss, after falling by two to California on Thursday.

Hofstra took a 43-29 lead into the break, but Marshall came out in the second half on a 23-4 run to take a 52-47 lead. The Pride regrouped, though, and Agudio made his fifth three-pointer of the game to give Hofstra the lead back at 53-52. After an exchange of baskets, sophomore forward Arminas Urbutis had back-to-back field goals to put the Pride ahead 59-54 with 5:39 left. Marshall scored the next three points to pull within two at 59-57, Stokes had consecutive baskets to give Hofstra a six-point advantage at 63-57.

Marshall got as close as two points on a three-pointer from Darryl Murthie with 55 seconds left, but Hofstra shot 6-for-6 at the foul line in the final minute to seal the win. Agudio, sophomore forward Zygis Sestokas, and senior guard Carlos Rivera each shot 2-for-2 at the line in the final minute, as the
Pride finished the game 12-14 from the charity stripe.

Agudio (16) and Stokes (15) combined for 31 points in the first half,outscoring the entire Marshall team as the Pride took a 43-29 lead into the break. The two guards combined to score Hofstra's first 15 points and 22 of its first 24, as the Pride used a 14-2 run to turn a 10-10 tie into a 24-12 advantage. Marshall pulled as close as 26-18 with 9:39 left in the half, but Agudio hit a pair of three-pointers as part of a 14-5 run as Hofstra surged to a 40-23 lead.

Marshall was led by Mark Dorris off the bench with 15 points, including
the first eight of the second half to cut Hofstra's 14-point halftime
lead to 43-37. Markel Humphrey also had 15 points, while Travis Aikens
chipped in with 13.