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HUNTINGTON - In horse racing, you normally have thoroughbreds with opening speed or closing speed. A special horse is one that can lead wire-to-wire, from the start to the finish.

If it is true in racing, it is also true for a basketball team off to a special start in Huntington, W.Va.

Marshall jumped to a 5-0 lead at the start of the game with Southern Miss, and led from start to finish in winning its opening game in Conference USA play convincingly, 76-63, over the Golden Eagles in the Cam Henderson Center. It was the Herd's 14th win in a row in the building named for Marshall's winningest coach.

The Herd moved to 12-2 overall, the best start since the Greg White led Herd in 1999-2000 started the season 13-2 on their way to a 21-9 season and semi-final finish in the Mid-American Conference tournament.

It also marks the first time since Marshall beat Western Michigan in 2002-03 and then beat Northern Illinois in the home conference openers in 2003-04 that the Herd opened two seasons in a row with wins at home in its first conference action.

MU also beat East Carolina last year, 72-64, to open C-USA play in the Henderson Center.

For Marshall head coach Donnie Jones, it was his first win against Southern Miss in three tries, as the Golden Eagles had beaten MU three times in a row. The series is now 5-4 in MU's favor all-time.

“There was a lot of physical contact and a lot of competition,” said Jones.  “It was a great Southern Miss team, I’m impressed with the talented team that they have. I’m really proud of the way our guys, when things got tough, withstood a couple runs.

"They went zone, which we figured they would do, but we found ways to hit two-point baskets…which we needed." Marshall scored 44 of its 76 points in the paint, and shot 24-of-37, 72 percent, on shots inside the three-point line, while making just 4-of-24 shots behind the arc (17 percent).

The Thundering Herd was led by senior forward Tyler Wilkerson, who scored 14 points and had five rebounds on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. He was one of five MU players in double figures in the contest.

“We were ready to play, everyone is excited. Our first season is over, and we are into conference play ready to go,” Wilkerson said.  “Coach Jones has been telling us that once we got into conference play every night was going to be a grind. Tonight was the first night we saw it.

"Our guys are relaxed though," said Wilkerson with a smile. "Everyone is confident and we are going to keep working."

Marshall led by as much as eight with 46 seconds left in the first half and took a 41-35 lead heading into halftime.  Gary Flowers kept Southern Miss close by scoring 13 points in the first half.

The Thundering Herd opened the second half by mounting a 11-3 run that was capped off by a Wilkerson jumper and gave MU a 52-39 lead.  The Marshall lead fluctuated between eight and 16 points for the rest of the game, except for a tense couple of minutes with just under four minutes to play when the Eagles cut the lead to six.

Maurice Bolden of USM, who scored 11 points in the game, scored four of Southern's eight points to cut the Herd lead to 66-60 at the 3:55 mark. Damier Pitts responded with a three-pointer on the ensuing Marshall possession, Marshall's first three in 19 tries since Pitts and Chris Lutz hit the first two threes of the contest to open the game.

The Thundering Herd defense forced a stop and Lutz, who was 2-for-5 from three, sank a three-pointer  with 2:42 remaining to give MU a 72-60 advantage.  Shaquille Johnson and Dago Pena would score baskets to make it 76-60 before Bolden’s three with 13 seconds left set the final score of 76-63.

Defense was the name of the game in the Thundering Herd win. Marshall held Flowers scoreless in the second half, missing all four attempts, and held Southern Miss to 31 percent from the floor (10-of-32). For the game, MU limited the Eagles to just 39 percent on field goals (24-of-61) and 31 percent from three (4-of-13).

Jones was impressed with his team's defensive effort in the win.

"We held Gary Flowers scoreless in the second half, which was a big key in the adjustments that we made with our defense," said Jones. " I’m really proud of Damier Pitts, Shaquille Johnson and Dago Pena, those guys were freshmen going against that physicality last year in conference play.

"If they didn’t make a shot, they would tuck their head and think everything is based on scoring. Tonight they were excited about playing, being veterans now."

Johnson, a sophomore guard who was 0-for-5 from three, still scored 12 points with four assists, five rebounds and two steals. Also scoring 12 points was junior forward Tirrell Baines.

Baines had five offensive rebounds to increase his total for the season to 40 offensive rebounds of his 60 rebounds total.

For Baines, who hit 5-of-8 shots, it was an impressive performance as he his scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Jan. 6 to repair a slight meniscus tear.

“I am having surgery on my left knee so I tried to go out with a bang,” Baines said.  “It is hard, but it is something that needed to be done. My knee will be sore tomorrow, so it needed to be done so I can come back strong half way through the conference schedule.

"We have been doing the same thing for the past three years. I try and get rebounds, give effort, and go hard, to try to inspire my teammates. Hopefully they are going to miss me tomorrow.”

Pitts scored 11 points, dished out a game high seven assists, and grabbed three rebounds with only one turnover in 31 minutes.  Hassan Whiteside, MU’s 7-0 freshman post player, blocked seven shots, nabbed six rebounds, and scored five points.

Jones said it is tougher for the younger players, like Whiteside, to understand the physical nature of conference games until they are part of them. Whiteside only took two shots, hitting one, and hit 3-of-6 from the free throw line.

"I think with our guys now being a little older they understand the physicality of the game," said Jones of players like Whiteside and first-year sophomores like Cam Miller and Nigel Spikes. "The way you find out about that is playing these Conference USA teams, where you have to be physical, and we need them to understand that when they enter the game.

"(Like) Tirrell Baines, who came off the bench and gave us an incredible effort tonight. He played like the Tirrell Baines that we know.”

Wilkerson knows you can only celebrate league victories a short time, then it is back to work for the next tough game in Conference USA.

"We are off tomorrow, then we come back Thursday and start preparing for East Carolina," said Wilkerson, who further said the Herd will definitely miss Tirrell Baines during the two-to-three weeks it takes him to return.

"Tirrell is a big part of our team. He comes in and gives us a lot of energy. We are going to miss him, but we have to keep playing. When one man goes down we have to grow stronger.

"Last year when I went down the guys brought it together and played hard, so that is what we are going to do, we are going to play hard while Tirrell is out.  We have other guys we can play. Nigel (Spikes) who can come in and I can go to the four. We have Dago who can come in, and Antonio (Haymon) who can play the four as well. We have a pretty deep bench, so we are just going to play ball.”

Marshall resumes C-USA play Saturday night when the Herd travels to East Carolina.  Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Minges Coliseum in Greenville, N.C. with the Pirates, who are 6-8 entering their Wednesday game at UAB.

The road trip continues for Marshall on Jan. 13 when the Herd travels to UCF for a 7 p.m. game in Orlando, Fla.

Marshall returns home for three games in Huntington and one in Charleston, W.Va. on Jan. 20 with No. 8-ranked West Virginia, after a Jan. 16 date in the Henderson Center with Tulane.

Following the Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic women's/men's doubleheader with WVU, MU will host UAB and Memphis on Jan. 23 and Jan. 27, respectively, the top two teams in the league, but this year, at least, along with the Herd.