Marshall and Ohio have played each other in men's basketball 94 times since 1931. But going at it on a neutral court is a first.
Marshall and Ohio have played each other in men's basketball 94 times since 1931. But going at it on a neutral court is a first.
That's what will happen tonight as both teams close out their four-game stretch in the Global Sports Invitational. As part of the non-bracketed event, both teams polished off North Carolina A&T, Middle Tennessee State and Lamar on their home courts, and now play tonight at the Charleston Civic Center.
Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m., with the game airing on WSAZ, Channel 3 in Charleston-Huntington and WTAP, my5 in Parkersburg. Tickets are $10-25, and are on sale through TicketMaster and the Civic Center box office.
The Bobcats (4-0) had an easier time with Middle Tennessee, taking a 15-point first-half lead and cruising 81-68. Ohio beat North Carolina A&T 93-82 and ran away from Lamar 71-46.
That last result came Monday and was a bigger margin of victory than the Herd compiled in beating Lamar 87-74, but that may be deceptive. Lamar coach Steve Roccaforte said he felt the Herd was more impressive, overall.
"Marshall's much better, much better," Roccaforte said. "And no disrespect to Ohio, because you saw our score, but with 10 minutes to go in the game we were down six, and missed two layups and they hit a 3 on the other end. We were in that ballgame pretty deep until that happened. The final score of our game wasn't indicative of the type of game it was.
"We've just been on a four-game road trip. We've played Middle Tennessee, Texas Tech, Ohio U. and [Marshall], and I think by far [Marshall has] a better team. I really do."
Ohio also has played Ohio Valley of the West Virginia Conference, winning 101-72. The Bobcats lead Marshall in the all-time series 50-44.
"They can really score," Marshall coach Donnie Jones said of the Bobcats. "They're really offensively talented, run a lot of pick-and-rolls. They've got a lot of guys who can score, a lot of guys contributing. I've been really impressed."
Marshall bested Ohio last season 73-68 at Cam Henderson Center, but Bobcat seniors such as Jerome Tillman have since moved on. OU coach John Groce has had to reload, and doesn't seem to have done poorly.
One newcomer, freshman guard D.J. Cooper, leads a band of five double-figure scorers with 14.8 points per game. Six-foot-5 sophomore guard Steven Coleman is next at 14.3, 6-8 DeVaughn Washington adds 13.5, freshman guard Jay Kinney has 13.3 and junior forward Tommy Freeman 11.5.
Marshall and Ohio have played each other in men's basketball 94 times since 1931. But going at it on a neutral court is a first.
That's what will happen tonight as both teams close out their four-game stretch in the Global Sports Invitational. As part of the non-bracketed event, both teams polished off North Carolina A&T, Middle Tennessee State and Lamar on their home courts, and now play tonight at the Charleston Civic Center.
Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m., with the game airing on WSAZ, Channel 3 in Charleston-Huntington and WTAP, my5 in Parkersburg. Tickets are $10-25, and are on sale through TicketMaster and the Civic Center box office.
The Bobcats (4-0) had an easier time with Middle Tennessee, taking a 15-point first-half lead and cruising 81-68. Ohio beat North Carolina A&T 93-82 and ran away from Lamar 71-46.
That last result came Monday and was a bigger margin of victory than the Herd compiled in beating Lamar 87-74, but that may be deceptive. Lamar coach Steve Roccaforte said he felt the Herd was more impressive, overall.
"Marshall's much better, much better," Roccaforte said. "And no disrespect to Ohio, because you saw our score, but with 10 minutes to go in the game we were down six, and missed two layups and they hit a 3 on the other end. We were in that ballgame pretty deep until that happened. The final score of our game wasn't indicative of the type of game it was.
"We've just been on a four-game road trip. We've played Middle Tennessee, Texas Tech, Ohio U. and [Marshall], and I think by far [Marshall has] a better team. I really do."
Ohio also has played Ohio Valley of the West Virginia Conference, winning 101-72. The Bobcats lead Marshall in the all-time series 50-44.
"They can really score," Marshall coach Donnie Jones said of the Bobcats. "They're really offensively talented, run a lot of pick-and-rolls. They've got a lot of guys who can score, a lot of guys contributing. I've been really impressed."
Marshall bested Ohio last season 73-68 at Cam Henderson Center, but Bobcat seniors such as Jerome Tillman have since moved on. OU coach John Groce has had to reload, and doesn't seem to have done poorly.
One newcomer, freshman guard D.J. Cooper, leads a band of five double-figure scorers with 14.8 points per game. Six-foot-5 sophomore guard Steven Coleman is next at 14.3, 6-8 DeVaughn Washington adds 13.5, freshman guard Jay Kinney has 13.3 and junior forward Tommy Freeman 11.5.
The Bobcats could be adding 6-2 junior guard Armon Bassett, who averaged 10.4 points and 3.2 assists in 61 games before transferring from Indiana.
"They're on the quarters system, and they're out of the fall quarter," Jones said. "Nobody's confirmed it to me, but he could play [today]."
Marshall led Lamar by 21 points several times and tied the school record with 13 blocked shots, set Nov. 17, 2000 against Charleston. Jones doesn't want to dampen his team's aggressiveness on defense, but does point out that the swat-fest carried a downside.
"We got a little too block-happy, and it put us out of position to rebound," Jones said. "We've got to be smart on how we guard, and stay grounded a little more."
Marshall (3-1) is led by Shaquille Johnson at 12.5 points per game, followed closely by Tyler Wilkerson at 12.3 and Damier Pitts at 12.0. Hassan Whiteside is recording 9.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in just 18.8 minutes per game.
The disappointing numbers so far are coming from Chris Lutz and Darryl Merthie, both shooting an identical 7-of-30 from the floor (23.3 percent) and combining to go 6-of-30 (20 percent) from 3-point range. Lutz is 4-of-21 from beyond the arc.
"We brought him off the bench; he's putting too much pressure on himself to make shots," Jones said. "He shoots well enough, and he works well enough on it, so the shots will fall, eventually."
Dago Pena has recovered from recent headaches, at least enough to dress and perhaps play. Camden Miller (foot infection) remains doubtful.
Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.
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