— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall coach Corny Jackson has maintained the Herd has plenty of players who can shoot the basketball.
No stop signs anywhere.
Well, the Thundering Herd finally made their coach’s prophesy a reality as it clobbered UL Monroe, 115-60, in a Sun Belt Conference matinee Thursday at Cam Henderson Center. Start time got moved to noon due to impending bad weather headed this way and still drew 3,312 fans. Saturday’s home game against South Alabama starts at noon also.
Marshall made a school-record 26 three pointers on 52 attempts and finished 41 of 76 overall. The 65 points in the first half is also a school record.
“Maybe we should play all our games at noon,” Jackson said. “Proud of everyone contributing. We’ve talked all year about this team and shooting ability. These guys can really shoot the basketball. Today’s pretty much the first day we’ve had everyone on. We’ve been waiting for this moment. Pretty impressive. Glad it came. Our guys have been dealing with the changes. Are we going to play at five? Are we going to play at noon? We found out yesterday. We had to adjust and move things around. Guys handled it like pros.”
When Marshall (13-7, 5-3 Sun Belt) did miss, though rare, Wyatt Fricks, Matt Van Komen, Wilson Dubinsky and Shamarrie Hugie were there to clean up.
Of Marshall’s 54 rebounds, 19 came on the offensive end. Fricks had three, Van Komen two, Dubinsky three and Hugie two.
“We had 29 assists, 13 turnovers. We hit the offensive glass two games in a row,” Jackson said. “Last time we had 20 offensive rebounds. This time 19. I’m so proud of these guys.”
Dubinsky led the Herd with 17 points (five threes) and seven rebounds in 17 minutes. Caleb Hollenbeck hit for 15 on five threes. Fricks had 15 with three threes. Jalen Speer finished with 14 and four threes. Rounding out the double figure scorers were Landen Joseph with 12 on four threes and Van Komen, who scored 11.
“It’s a contagious kind of thing,” Hollenbeck said. “You see guys make them and it just kind of gets you in a rhythm. It feels like everything’s going down. I mean we got 29 assists. We did get really good passes from our point guards and everyone trusts everyone. Just the way we share the ball. When someone gets hot, it’s hard to guard. The wings were open more. We really moved the ball well. We made them get out of their positions. It was open.”
ULM (3-17, 0-8 SBC) started and stayed in a zone on defense and the Herd feasted this time.
Jackson didn’t make his team aware of the three-point mark until about the 5:00 mark.
“I didn’t want to tell them in the flow because I just wanted them to play how we play,” Jackson said. “Probably about the five-minute mark I told them. I said, ‘hey we need two or three whatever to tie the record and let’s break it.’ And those guys got excited. You can see their eyes light up. You have guys congratulating me which I appreciate but I did nothing. I didn’t make a shot. These guys did the work. This is a huge moment for them.”
Dubinsky said he basked in the moment, but added there’s work still to be done with South Alabama due in on a short turnaround.
“A good confidence builder,” Dubinsky said. “We’ve got to be ready to come out against South Alabama. They’re a little more aggressive. Go through the scout report and come out and play.”
While the offensive numbers are impressive, the Herd contained the Warhawks on defense. The visitors made 17-of-59 shots, including 5-of-27 from three.
M.J. Russell, transfer from Mississippi State, had 10 points for ULM (no threes). Renars Sondors led with 16, but hit 1-of-7 threes. Krystian Lewis added 15, but just 2-of-6 from behind the arc.
“We focused on their two guards,” Jackson said. “One (Russell) is a transfer from Mississippi State. Lewis is the second. Those twoi take 13 shots a game so we maintained the focus on them. We made the adjustments. I thought our big guys did a great job at the rim. When you beat your man, you feel 6-11, 7-4. Wyatt had three (blocks), Matt had three or four (four). Erich Harding did a great job (three blocks). So everyone contributed on both sides of the ball. That’s what’s beautiful. Because it was a team win.”