| Thundering Herd Skins Bobcats, 108-62 |
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| Written by woody | |||||
| Wednesday, 11 November 2009 00:16 | |||||
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By Woody Woodrum
Herd Insider Sr. Editor
HUNTINGTON - It was an exhibition game against an overmatched opponent, but don't tell the Marshall men's basketball team that.
For the Herd team of third-year head coach Donnie Jones, it was a different colored jersey to play against in front of 4,495 Herd fans that turned out for a 108-62 win by Marshall over Division II West Virginia Wesleyan of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
"We take this as a wake-up game, a game to get some of the kinks out," said senior forward Tyler Wilkerson. "We made a lot of our plays more polished by playing someone else. I'm tired of playing against these guys, banging each other, hurting each other. I'm tired of that," said Wilkerson of fellow big men in Hassan Whiteside and Tirrell Baines, who flanked him in the post-game press conference.
Wilkerson led the way in the game with 18 points and 17 rebounds for a double-double, and blocked four shots. Baines, a junior who averaged 8.7 points per game last season, was the leading scorer for both teams with 21 points, hitting some thundering dunks on a 10-for-15 shooting night.
Tyler Wilkerson had 17 points, 18 rebounds, and grabbed this rebound over Wesleyan's Keshawn Creighton (44)
photo by Greg Perry/HI staff
"We just overwhelmed them, bringing wave after wave after wave, and Hassan was a beast out there," said Baines, who had eight rebounds, one block and a steal in addition to leading MU in scoring. "Me, myself, Antonio (Haymon), we just kept punching.
"We have got depth now. I'm satisfied with the way we played today. I love playing with him," said Baines of Whiteside.
Whiteside, the 7-foot freshman center, came into the game at 15:39 of the first half with the Herd up 9-8. He scored eight of MU's next 12 points, grabbed two rebounds and blocked the first of four shots to give Marshall a 21-14 lead which would just built throughout the rest of the game.
Whiteside was 7-for-10 shooting and had five rebounds to go with four blocks, but did foul out of the game with just ten minutes played.
"I was just excited to play, to play with my teammates, against another team," said the soft-spoken frosh. "I just do what they tell me to do."
Antonio Haymon made his Marshall debut as a transfer from Cecil College, and hit 8-of-12 shots for 17 points and seven rounds, and an assist, block and steal. Both freshmen walk-on guards played, and Noah Fischer hit 4-of-6, including 3-of-5 from three, for 11 points while Bobby Hordyski was one-of-two from three.
"I don't think I've had a year here when our walk-ons didn't play," said head coach Donnie Jones when a reporter asked about everyone getting to play. Jones was short-handed due to injury, even in the exhibition.
Sophomore forward Nigel Spikes tried to play, but only was in one minute before his knee injury forced him back to the sidelines. Guards Dago Pena and Damier Pitts were also held out, due to concussions, while freshman DeAndre Kane is still waiting for the NCAA Clearing House to make a decision on his eligibilty.
Still, Marshall dominated all aspects of the game. The Herd scored 74 points in the paint, including 32 points on dunks, to just 18 points for the Bobcats inside. The Herd led in points off turnovers (34-to-15), second chance points (27-to-7), fast-break points (19-to-5), bench scoring (47-to-16) and out-rebounded the Bobcats by 55-to-27.
 photo by Greg Perry/HI staff Jones knew getting his team ready to play was the ultimate goal of tonight's contest.
"It was a good night for our basketball team," said Jones. "We knew they wouldfundamentally run their motionoffense, with five undersized guys, we knew it would be a little difficult but would be a good chance for our guys to learn to guard those guys.
"We played with great energy, and we tried to force them to do things a little quicker when our press kicked in."
A 56-33 halftime lead was built to 76-40 out of the second half, using the press for take-aways and quick baskets. But Jones knows they have to learn how to press without fouling.
"34 fouls is way too many," said Jones. "They hit 25-of-34 at the line, and that's just too much. We just have to back off a little.
"Chris Lutz doesn't think he ever fouls in practice, and tonight he had four. So we'll address that."
Lutz and fellow senior Darryl Merthie, along with sophomore Shaq Johnson took time at the point with Pitts out. Merthie scored eight points, had eight rebounds, five assists and just one turnover.
Lutz struggled shooting a bit, hitting 2-of-7 from three for six points but had eight assists, two steals and two
rebounds. Johnson scored eight points with four assists and three steals.
The Herd had 24 assists on the night, just 11 turnovers, ten blocks and nine steals in the game.
For West Virginia Wesleyan, Justin Caldwell scored 19 points to leave the Bobcats, hitting 9-of-13 at the free throw line. The junior guard from Mullens, W.Va. also had six rebounds and two assists. Ryan Hoehner scored 14 points and led the Bobcats with seven rebounds.
Marshall will have four days to absorb the lessons from Tuesday's game before the season opens this weekend, with two games in three days right out of the starting gate. Jones is hoping the fans will return with friends for these early games.
"As we get ready to kick off the year, I hope the fans that came tonight will be back on Sunday," said Jones. The Herd opens the season on Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. at home versus North Carolina A&T, then will play Middle Tennessee State on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m.
All Marshall games can be heard on SuperTalk 94.1 FM and AM 930 along with 93.7 FM, The Dawg. The MTSU game will be the first game of the year with the post-game call-in show live at The Union Pub and Grill, at 1205 Fourth Avenue in Huntington.
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| Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 November 2009 12:13 |
