Marshall Thundering Herd (MM05)

[BunnyHardaway]

2006 Marshall University Basketball

Marshall has made a huge turnaround in the past three years, going 27-3 in 2004 and reaching its 1st NCAA Tournament in years, and despite losing 4 starters, they finished 18-12 and made it to the MAC Tournament Final in 2005. This year they move from the MAC to Conference USA to compete with the likes of Cincinnatti and Louisville. Coach Kevin Hende and his crew look forward to the challenge.

"I can't wait for conference play!" he said. "I really want to get a shot at these teams, I think we can beat them."

Their out of conference schedule isn't the toughest, but they will have some challenges. They go on the road to face mid-major powerhouse Southern Illinois, and they host two strong Pac-10 teams, Cal and Arizona State.

"We didn't want to schedule a Top 10 team quite yet" AD Josh Linn said. "Not that we aren't ready, but C-USA is tough enough, and we can't afford to be beaten up by such good teams."

One of the other pros about this team is that they are very young. Not a single upper classmen in the starting lineup. All three of their recruits have earned starting spots. This means that they are now deeper than last year. The good players that started last year (SG Hank Silva for example) are now on the bench ready to go whenever. Coach Hende says this will make them better aswell.

All in all, the folks in Huntington have high hopes this year. Why shouldn't they? They had the 15th best recruiting class in the country. Lets take a look at these "diaper dandies":


Bob Pena, SG, ******
Marcus Fisher, C, ******
Tony Pearson, PG, *****

And a look at this year's starting five:

PG- (SO.) Adam Murphy
SG- (FR.) Tony Pearson
SF- (FR.) Bob Pena
PF- (SO.) Colin Gipson
C- (FR.) Marcus Fisher

First Five Games
Bethune-Cookman
@ Ball State
@ Southern Illinois
Cal
Furman

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Marshall Thundering Herd (MM05)

vs.

Herd gets hot late, comes back and pulls away

Marshall trailed for most of the first half, but got out to a 37-34 halftime lead over the Wildcats. The first 8 minutes of the second half, Marshall was shooting just 26%. Their defense just could not stop BCC guard Jason Lehman. Lehman scored 12 of his 18 points in that span. Bethune-Cookman was up 52-42 with 10 minutes to play, but that was where it stopped. Tony Pearson started the comeback with a deep three ball. They got a Marcus Fisher rebound, which led to a Colin Gipson layup. The score was now 52-46. Adam Murphy forced another turnover and took it coast to coast. 52-48 with 9 minutes to go. BCC scored on their next possession, but Bob Pena one-upped them with a three pointer at the other end. Down to a 3 point lead.

Another defensive stop led to a monstrous Marcus Fisher dunk. What was a 10 point lead three minutes earlier was now a 54-53 game. After that, the Herd finished with an 18-10 run. The Herd went to 1-0, defeating the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 72-63.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Marcus Fisher (MAR); 19 points, 12 reb., 2 blocks

Herd Stats:

Adam Murphy- 8 points, 6 assists, 3 steals
Tony Pearson- 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Bob Pena- 15 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist
Colin Gipson- 9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block
Marcus Fisher- 19 points, 12 reb., 2 blocks

Next Game: @ Ball State

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Marshall Thundering Herd (MM05)

vs.

Herd gets hot late, comes back and pulls away

Marshall trailed for most of the first half, but got out to a 37-34 halftime lead over the Wildcats. The first 8 minutes of the second half, Marshall was shooting just 26%. Their defense just could not stop BCC guard Jason Lehman. Lehman scored 12 of his 18 points in that span. Bethune-Cookman was up 52-42 with 10 minutes to play, but that was where it stopped. Tony Pearson started the comeback with a deep three ball. They got a Marcus Fisher rebound, which led to a Colin Gipson layup. The score was now 52-46. Adam Murphy forced another turnover and took it coast to coast. 52-48 with 9 minutes to go. BCC scored on their next possession, but Bob Pena one-upped them with a three pointer at the other end. Down to a 3 point lead.

Another defensive stop led to a monstrous Marcus Fisher dunk. What was a 10 point lead three minutes earlier was now a 54-53 game. After that, the Herd finished with an 18-10 run. The Herd went to 1-0, defeating the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 72-63.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Marcus Fisher (MAR); 19 points, 12 reb., 2 blocks

Herd Stats:

Adam Murphy- 8 points, 6 assists, 3 steals
Tony Pearson- 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Bob Pena- 15 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist
Colin Gipson- 9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block
Marcus Fisher- 19 points, 12 reb., 2 blocks

Next Game: @ Ball State

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Marshall Thundering Herd (MM05)

at

Herd barely avoid upset by Cardinals

Marshall's first away game was against former MAC foe Ball State. Picked as 12 point favorites, the Herd thought this would be a cakewalk. But due to freshman center Marcus Fisher getting into early foul trouble, the inside threat was not as strong, allowing the Cardinals to attack the basket and score nearly at will. Marshall had to do without Fisher for the last 9 minutes of the first half, and at the buzzer the score was 35-29 in favor of Ball State.

Fisher started out the second half, and that made a huge difference. The Herd managed to get back in the game, leveling the score at 42 with 10 minutes to play. Some good outside shooting from Pena and Pearson with some Michael Fisher inside dominance, Marshall was able to get out to a 55-51 lead with 4 minutes left in the game. The Cards were not out of it yet. They stepped it up big on defense and forced two huge turnovers that tied the game up. Marshall was just too much though, they went on a quick 6-0 run, putting the score at 61-55. The Herd but the final nails in the coffin, sinking all 10 free throws in the final 1:30. Ty Pearson led the way with 20 points, and Marshall advanced to 2-0 with a 71-60 win.

"They played great, the score doesn't reflect how close the game was" coach Kevin Hende said after the game.

"We played a good team, and we got lucky."

PLAYER OF THE GAME: SG Tony Pearson: 20 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds

HERD STATS:

PG- Adam Murphy: 7 points, 8 assists, 3 steals
SG- Tony Pearson: 20 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds
SF- Bob Pena: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
PF- Colin Gipson: 9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block
C- Marcus Fisher: 8 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks


NEXT GAME: @ Southern Illinois

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Marshall Thundering Herd (MM05)

at

Herd barely avoid upset by Cardinals

Marshall's first away game was against former MAC foe Ball State. Picked as 12 point favorites, the Herd thought this would be a cakewalk. But due to freshman center Marcus Fisher getting into early foul trouble, the inside threat was not as strong, allowing the Cardinals to attack the basket and score nearly at will. Marshall had to do without Fisher for the last 9 minutes of the first half, and at the buzzer the score was 35-29 in favor of Ball State.

Fisher started out the second half, and that made a huge difference. The Herd managed to get back in the game, leveling the score at 42 with 10 minutes to play. Some good outside shooting from Pena and Pearson with some Michael Fisher inside dominance, Marshall was able to get out to a 55-51 lead with 4 minutes left in the game. The Cards were not out of it yet. They stepped it up big on defense and forced two huge turnovers that tied the game up. Marshall was just too much though, they went on a quick 6-0 run, putting the score at 61-55. The Herd but the final nails in the coffin, sinking all 10 free throws in the final 1:30. Ty Pearson led the way with 20 points, and Marshall advanced to 2-0 with a 71-60 win.

"They played great, the score doesn't reflect how close the game was" coach Kevin Hende said after the game.

"We played a good team, and we got lucky."

PLAYER OF THE GAME: SG Tony Pearson: 20 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds

HERD STATS:

PG- Adam Murphy: 7 points, 8 assists, 3 steals
SG- Tony Pearson: 20 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds
SF- Bob Pena: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
PF- Colin Gipson: 9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block
C- Marcus Fisher: 8 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks


NEXT GAME: @ Southern Illinois