HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – Despite trailing by 17 points early in the second half, the App State men's basketball team fought back to cut its once double-digit deficit down to two points with two minutes to play in the game after embarking on an extended 32-16 run. But the Marshall Thundering Herd remained calm and closed out an 88-81 win with a late 9-1 run on its home floor on Saturday.
Marshall's (10-5, 2-1 SBC) high-powered offense, which averaged the fourth-most points in the Sun Belt Conference entering the game, got off to a strong start on Saturday, as it scored 44 first-half points against App State's (9-7, 2-2 SBC) strong defense. The Herd's 44 points in the opening frame marked the most that an App State opponent has scored in a first half this season. This helped Marshall to a double-digit halftime advantage, which was ultimately too much for App State to overcome.
Despite the outcome, the Mountaineers saw huge performances from
Michael Marcus Jr.,
Jason Clarke Jr. and
Luke Wilson against Marshall, as the trio combined to score 51 points. Marcus Jr., who tallied a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double on Wednesday, set his new career high with 21 points against Marshall on 50 percent shooting from the field. Wilson matched his career high with 19 points and pulled in nine rebounds, while Clarke Jr. set his career high with 11 points on 4-5 shooting. Clarke Jr.'s 11 points marked the first time he has eclipsed double figures in his career.
How it Happened
A pair of free throws by Wilson opened the game's scoring at the Cam Henderson Center before a Marcus Jr. layup in the paint gave App State a 4-2 lead after the first two minutes of the contest. Marshall took its first lead of the game with a Jalen Speer 3-pointer and kept that slim one-point advantage as play hit the first media timeout thanks to a jumper in the lane.
Alonzo Dodd, who fell one rebound shy of a double-double, gave the Mountaineers the lead right back with a floater, but the second Thundering Herd three of the game pushed them ahead by two points with 14:51 to play until halftime. Marshall quickly went ahead by four a possession later, but Marcus Jr.'s third basket of the game and Clarke Jr.'s first score made the score 14-12 by the 12:39 mark.
The Thundering Herd scored seven of the game's next nine points after Clarke Jr.'s basket to soar ahead by seven points after the under-12 timeout. That lead eventually swelled to 10 points by the 8:01 mark of the first half after Speer hit on another 3-pointer.
Kasen Jennings and Dodd scored baskets on back-to-back possessions to cut App State's advantage back down to six points, but five straight points by Marshall made it an 11-point game at the 5:46 mark of the first half.
A Wyatt Fricks free throw pushed Marshall to a 12-point lead out of the final media break of the opening half, but Clarke Jr. and Wilson worked to lower App State's deficit back within single digits with scores. A Dodd 3-pointer made the score 36-30 with 2:06 to play until halftime, but Marshall tallied eight of the final 10 points in the half to take a 44-32 lead into the locker room.
Marcus Jr. paced all scorers in the opening half with 11 points on 5-8 shooting, but the story of the first half in Huntington was Marshall's offense, as it shot 61.5 percent from the field and 54.5 percent deep. Four different Marshall players buried a 3-pointer in the opening half, which helped it jump out to a 44-point first half and a double-digit lead.
The seventh 3-pointer of the game for Marshall fell through on its first possession of the second half, giving it a 15-point lead just 11 seconds out of the halftime break. Another 3-pointer, this time by Caleb Hollenbeck, answered a Wilson free throw to give Marshall a 17-point lead with 17:41 to play in the game. This was Marshall's largest advantage in the contest.
Jennings and Clarke Jr. responded to the three by Hollenbeck with a pair of layups before the under-16 timeout, and Wilson made it a 13-point game with just over 14 minutes to play with a layup of his own. But the Thundering Herd remained calm and jumped back ahead by 16 points after Shamarrie Hugie buried a 3-pointer and Fricks capitalized on two freebies at the stripe.
With the score now at 61-45 in favor of Marshall, App State got to work to trim into its deficit. Back-to-back threes by
Jalen Tot, courtesy of good defense by
Chad Moodie and Wilson, made it a 10-point contest with 10:23 to go in the game. After a timeout by Marshall, Jennings connected on one of two free-throw attempts before Tot nailed his third 3-pointer in a minute of game time. Just like that, App State was within six with just under 10 minutes to go.
Marshall stopped App State's 10-0 run with a 3-pointer to push it back ahead by nine points, but Jennings and Wilson muscled their way into the lane for scores, putting the Mountaineers within four by the under-eight timeout.
The Thundering Herd used a layup and a free throw to go back ahead by seven, but the Mountaineers quickly responded by going on a brief 4-0 run to pull within three points, the closest the score was since it was 17-14 in the first half. A jumper by Noah Otshudi ended the run, and Marshall took a six-point advantage into the last media timeout of the contest.
Another jumper by Fricks sent Marshall back ahead by eight points with 3:36 to play in the game, but the Mountaineers scored eight of the next 10 points to make the score 77-75 with 1:59 to go. Free throws by Clarke Jr. and Marcus Jr., along with back-to-back dunks by Wilson, helped the score reach that point.
Seeing their once 17-point lead now stand at two, the Thundering Herd needed to respond. They did just that by scoring nine of the next 10 points to soar ahead by eight with 27 seconds remaining in the game. App State saw one more 3-pointer from Marcus Jr. fall, but Marshall closed out a win on its home floor by drilling each of its final six free-throw attempts.
Top Performers
Fresh off a double-double in his last game, Marcus Jr. paced App State in scoring for the second consecutive game with a career-high 21 points on 7-14 shooting, which included a 3-5 mark from behind the arc. Marcus Jr. was a force on the offensive glass against the Herd, corralling five offensive rebounds, which helped lead to 15 Mountaineer second-chance points. Wilson was dominant down low all game for App State, as he matched his career high with 19 points, while also grabbing nine rebounds. The big man helped put Marshall in foul trouble, as he was fouled 10 times, which led to a career-high 17 free-throw attempts. Dodd and Clarke Jr. also impacted the game on several levels, combining for 23 points on 9-16 shooting. Dodd stuffed the stat sheet with nine rebounds and a team-high five assists.
Up Next
App State and Georgia State will meet for the second time this season on Thursday, with this matchup coming in Atlanta at the GSU Convocation Center. Tip off is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
