— By Bill Cornwell
Marshall head coach Cornelius Jackson was upset with the result, but at least took satisfaction in the fight his team showed Wednesday night in rallying from a 10-point halftime deficit in a 72-68 loss at Texas State.
“The second half, I thought we came out and really matched it,” Jackson said. “Again, that was a few adjustments and personnel changes. We had a chance there at the end and were one stop away.”
Marshall (13-8, 5-4) now looks to get over the hump as it hopes to split a two-game road trip at 3 p.m. Saturday with a matchup at Arkansas State that can be seen on ESPN+.
The Red Wolves (13-9, 5-5) are coming off a 75-71 loss at home to Old Dominion on Wednesday.
Ryan Pannone is in his first season as ASU’s head coach after being part of Nate Oats’ staff at Alabama, which qualified for the Final Four two years ago.
Arkansas State has prided itself on being balanced and five Red Wolves players are double-figure scoring — graduate guard Matt Hayman (11.8), junior guard Christian Harman (11.5), sophomore guard Joey Chammaa (10.6), senior guard Chandler Jackson (10.5) and senior forward Jaxon Ellingsworth (10.2).
Harmon scored a team-high 20 in the loss to the Monarchs earlier this week.
Senior guard Jalen Hampton leads Arkansas State with an average of 8.1 rebounds.
Marshall’s three double-figure scorers are Jalen Speer (15), Wyatt Fricks (14.5) and Noah Otshudi (14.1). Center Matt Van Komen continues to lead Herd rebounders with an average of 7.6.
This will be the eighth meeting between the schools and the Red Wolves lead the series 4-3.
After Saturday’s game, Marshall returns home next week for two contests — Wednesday against Southern Miss against No. 24 Miami Ohio in the Mid-American Conference/Sun Belt Challenge.