— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall was rolling for much of Tuesday night before being forced to get over a hurdle after Old Dominion pulled to within five points as the 7-minute mark of the second half neared.
Wyatt Fricks, Landen Joseph and Jalen Speer then sparked an 11-2 run to allow the Herd lead 91-77, and Marshall hung on from there to defeat the Monarchs 97-88 at Cam Henderson Center.
“We found a way to win,” Marshall coach Corny Jackson said. “Obviously our defense has to be better. They had 52 points in the paint, 88 for the game. We have to play a lot better defense Friday night. But again, it’s that time of year. It’s the second go-around. They played funky. They were calling their leads. We had 22 assists, seven turnovers. I thought we were sharing the ball and playing at our pace. Things went our way except for the defensive part.”
Marshall (19-11, 11-6 Sun Belt Conference) closes out the regular season Friday against Georgia Southern at home. It’s part of a doubleheader. The Herd women play Georgia Southern at 6 p.m. The Herd and Eagles take the floor at 9 for a men’s matchup that will air on ESPN2.
The Herd are tied for the Sun Belt lead with Appalachian State and Troy. South Alabama is in fourth at 10-6, followed by Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina and Texas State at 10-7. The top two seeds get byes until the semifinal round in the conference tournament.
“We have a huge opportunity,” Jackson said. “It’s our next game. We have the best fans in the Sun Belt. It’s a huge opportunity to show off our school, our community, our state. We don’t get many opportunities like that.”
Fricks led Marshall with 28 points, making 12-of-17 shots. It was a strong showing from Fricks, who along with teammates and coaches, battled a virus on last week’s two-game road trip, along with foul trouble.
“It’s great to be in the Cam,” Fricks said. “I can breathe. We didn’t play with a lot of energy at the start. We’ve got to find a better way. As a player, you get in that flow stage. One goes in, they all drop. Definitely feels nice. Sick is not an excuse. It sucks. I was under the weather the Miami (Ohio) game. You still show up, you keep going.”
Jackson was pleased with Fricks’ perseverance.
“You have to fight through that stuff, adversity. You learn life lessons in basketball,” Jackson said.
Noah Otshudi shot 7 for 12, Joseph was 7 for 10 and Speer finished 8 for 10. Each of that trio scored 18 points, while Joseph and Otshudi had six assists apiece.
Fricks scored in bunches on slam dunks as the Herd worked the pick-and-roll and got him free when breaking the visitor’s press in the closing stages.
“Wyatt Fricks runs like a deer,” Jackson said. “The guy to my left (Joseph) is young and fresh.(Otshudi and Speer) are fast. They can put pressure on defense. Give the offense a chance to make mistakes.”
The Herd made 40-of-67 field-goal attempts for 60 percent shooting.
Joseph said Jackson wanted his team to pick up the pace from the jump.
“Coach brought it to our attention we were not playing with energy,” said Joseph, a freshman. “We picked it up. We’re more of a transition team. When we play fast, we’re fun to watch.”
“I’ll take the 97,” Jackson added. “You don’t take the win for granted. We’ve got to do better job Friday night. We’ve got to have that energy level at the start.”
Ketron “KC” Shaw led the Monarchs (10-20, 6-11) with 26 points. Jordan Battle added 24 and Caelum Swanton-Rodger 17.
Marshall leads the series against ODU, 18-16. The Herd won 81-79 at the Monarchs two weeks ago.