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HUNTINGTON -  The Tulane Green Wave found itself in the same situation Saturday night at the Cam Henderson Center as the Herd did at UCF on Wednesday.

Down three players, except all to injuries in the Green Waves case, and facing a great, large and loud home crowd, Tulane would not fold all night against the Herd and a season-best crowd of 7,243, best since Memphis sold out the building back on Jan. 12, 2008.

But in the end, the Herd did what the Knights couldn't do at home - MU won the game, 89-79, over Tulane to improve on an already surprising season that saw the Herd match its last season win total in just the 17th game of the season.

“I am very proud of the victory tonight,” said Marshall head coach Donnie Jones.  “What a hard-fought conference game tonight.

"That is a very tough Tulane team and they came out and played with a lot of energy. Our guys found a way down the stretch to finish it. We have to do a better job handling the pressure, like we did against Central Florida. But we have to be able to finish games better than we did today. I am proud of our guys to find a way to win though."

Marshall improved to 15-2 on the season, a total of wins Marshall did not hit until late in last season's 15-17 record. MU is 4-0 in Conference USA for the first time since joining the league in 2005, and is undefeated in league play for the first time since the 1996-97 season, when Greg White coached the Herd to a 20-9 mark by starting 4-0 on the way to winning the Southern Conference North Division.

Hassan Whiteside came sooo close to another triple-double against Tulane.  Whiteside scored 20 points, had 12 rebounds, and 8 blocks. Including this block of Tulane's Jordan Callahan in the second half.  photo by Greg Perry/HI staff

The crowd was the best for any team besides Memphis since 6,626 showed up at the Henderson Center for a game against White's Herd in 2001-02 against Mid-American Conference foe Ohio U. back on Feb. 26, 2002.

Marshall was once again led by 7-foot freshman center Hassan Whiteside, who fell just short of a third triple-double and the second in a row after having 14 points, 14 rebounds and ten blocks at UCF on Wednesday for his second of the year. Only Kenyon Martin of former C-USA member Cincinnati had two in his career, and no one has had two, much less three, in a season in the league.

Whiteside had 20 points, knocking down 9-of-14 shots from the field and 2-for-2 at the free throw line, had 12 rebounds (six on the offensive glass) and finished just short of the triple with eight blocks. He now has 95 blocks on the season, the second-most in a single season for any Marshall player other than Omar Roland in 1989-90.

Roland blocked 101 that season in the SC, and now Whiteside is just six from tying that mark with at least 15 more games to play. He is now eighth in career blocks, just four behind Latece Williams (99, from 2000-2002) for seventh all-time.

"I thought Hassan did a good job rebounding tonight," Jones said. "He is getting smarter about not fouling, and that makes his blocks more effective."

Shaquille Johnson made this steal in front of Tulane's Kendall Timmons in the second half of The Herd's 89-79 win.  photo by Greg Perry/HI staff

Jones also was excited about the energy the Herd fans brought on a night where the basketball team needed that energy. It also was not a bad showing for 17 recruits the Herd football staff had at the game.

"How about the crowd tonight, they really excited our guys tonight. It was an incredible sixth man having all those fans here, they got us through it. We are proud of the win and proud to be 4-0 in Conference USA."

Sophomore guard Shaq Johnson was close behind Whiteside in points, scoring 18 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor, 1-of-1 from three and 7-of-8 from the line. Johnson led the Herd with six assists and had three rebounds and one steal.

“The crowd gave us a boost,” Johnson said.  “Talk about a home court advantage. They were loud and rowdy. It was difficult for Tulane to get into their offense. The crowd was the sixth man."

But Dave Dickerson's Tulane team was relentless. Missing senior point guard Kevin Sims (12.3 ppg, 44 assists), junior guard Aaron Holmes (7.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and  sophomore Jon Anderson, the Green Wave tied the game at 22-22 ten minutes into the first half.

A Marshall rush over the final five minutes of the half put TU down at halftime, 47-36. 12 points, on 4-of-7 shooting from three by Kris Richard, kept the game from being a blow out early as the Green Wave was 6-for-15 from three in the first half.

Dago Pena put up two of his 14 points over Tulane's Trent Rogers in the first half.  photo by Greg Perry/HI staff

Marshall would get the lead to 12 early in the second half, but could not pull away. About ten minutes to go in the game, Tulane had cut the lead to three, 62-59, behind Asim McQueen. McQueen had just the third double-double of his career, and first of the season, with 20 points and ten rebounds.

The Herd pushed the lead back out to 13 points at 4:42 to play, on Whiteside's two free throws, but Tulane was hardly ready to throw in the towel.

The Wave cut the lead to five on a Richard's 10-foot jumper, 82-77, with 1:33 to play. But Dago Pena, Antonio Haymon and Darryl Merthie combined for 5-of-6 at the line to push Marshall back up to ten at the end, 89-79.

Marshall's second half defense was big part of the win, holding Tulane to just 2-of-13 from three in the half. Overall, Tulane shot 40 percent from the field, 29-of-72, while Marshall made 27-of-48 (56 percent).

The Herd went 31-of-40 at the free throw line, 78 percent, while Tulane was 13-of-15 at the line, not drawing as many foul shots with a 8-of-28 night from three (29 percent). It was much like the UCF game, where Whiteside's blocks influenced other shots in the game, moving Tulane further from the basket except for McQueen.

Marshall improved to 10-0 at the Henderson Center this year. The contest against Tulane was game No. 400 at the building named for the legendary Marshall coach, who won 362 games between 1935-55 including the NAIA National Championship with a 32-5 team in 1946-47.

Henderson is the originator of the fast break and zone defense, and he recruited the first African-American to attend any previous "white" college or university in the state of West Virginia when he signed Marshall and NBA/Basketball Hall of Fame member Hal Greer from Huntington Douglas High School in 1954.

Marshall faces No. 10 West Virginia (13-3) on Jan. 20 as part of the annual Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic in the Charleston (W.Va.) this Wednesday, an annual doubleheader with both men's and women's teams meeting from the state's two Division I schools. The women's game tips at 6:30, as the 10-6 Herd meets No. 18 WVU women, while the men's game begins at 9 p.m. The women's game will air on SuperTalk 94.1 FM and AM 930, while the men's game is also on SuperTalk along with The Dawg, 93.7 FM and the Thundering Herd/ISP Sports Network.

Marshall's Big Green Scholarship Foundation will host the Second Annual Marshall Madness at the Marriott at the Charleston Marriott on Wednesday, starting at 11:30 a.m. Both Donnie Jones and MU women's coach Royce Chadwick will speak at the luncheon, which costs $15. RSVP by Monday afternoon to 34-696-4661.

Before the men's game, the annual Marshall University Alumni Association reception starts at 7 p.m. in the Civic Center's South Hall. There is no charge, there will be music, prizes, giveaways, food, drinks and a cash bar, and appearance's by Donnie Jones, Dr. Stephen Kopp, the Marshall University President, and Gov. Joe Manchin as well as a live pre-game show with 93.7 FM, The Dawg, afternoon drive's Jeff "Crawdawg" Crawford and Woody Woodrum of the Thundering Herd/ISP Sports Network and Herd Insider magazine.

NOTES—Marshall has won six in a row, marking the first time since the 1994-95 season under current Florida head coach Billy Donovan that the Herd has won at least six games in a row on least two occasions in the same season (Marshall won seven in a row earlier this year)…Nigel Spikes missed his first free throw in Conference USA play, he is now 9-of-10 in league play this season…Newly minted Marshall head football coach John “Doc” Holliday spoke to a standing ovation during the second media timeout of the first half...Tyler Wilkerson scored only five points, the first game since the opener against N.C. A&T when he scored only eight points with 20 reounds. He had scored in double-digits 15 games in a row...Whiteside had his ninth double-double of the season.

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