Nov. 16, 2008
Box Score
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall University men's basketball team began the 2008-09 season in style on Sunday, posting a 53-point victory in a 110-57 romp over WVU Tech at the Cam Henderson Center in which every Thundering Herd player got in the scoring column.
Marshall (1-0) was led by freshman guard Shaquille Johnson (Jacksonville, Fla.), who got the starting nod in his collegiate debut, with a team-high 19 points. Johnson went 4-for-5 from 3-point range, including a 3-for-3 mark from distance in the second half - all within a three-minute span midway through the period.
Four other Herd players reached double-digits as all 13 players on the roster sank at least one field goal. Chris Lutz (Bedford, N.H.) tallied 14 points with four assists in his Marshall debut and went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. The Purdue transfer helped MU to a 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) afternoon from 3-point range.
Marshall never trailed WVU Tech (4-3) as the season's first scoring play was a Markel Humphrey (Atlanta, Ga.) bucket plus a foul 31 seconds into the contest. In fact, Humphrey recorded three `And-1' opportunities on the day. The senior, who is battling foot ailments, was in the starting lineup after missing MU's exhibition game on Nov. 1. He netted 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting with three assists and three steals.
"Tonight was the first time we had the opportunity to go full strength," Marshall head coach Donnie Jones said. "It was nice to have Tyler Wilkerson, Markel Humphrey and Tirrell Baines back in the lineup. We had the opportunity to play a lot of guys. As a coaching staff we're still trying to figure out our rotations. There's a lot of shuffling going on early on because we're back to being healthy. It was great to get those guys out there and get the rust off them."
The Herd led by only four points, however, at 8:22 of the first half before going on a half-ending 25-8 run to blow open the contest at intermission. Marshall grabbed 11 offensive rebounds in the opening frame en route to 13 second-chance points.
Junior forward Tyler Wilkerson (Lexington, Ky.) led MU with 11 first-half points and seven rebounds on the way to a 13-point (6-for-9 FG), eight-rebound season debut. Nursing a right hand that he broke last month, Wilkerson played only three minutes in the second half for 13 total minutes. He also tied a career-high with three blocked shots.
The Herd offense heated up even more in the second half, shooting 60.5 percent from the floor while holding the Golden Bears to 31.4 percent shooting. MU went 6-for-11 (54.5 percent) from beyond the arc after halftime, including the aforementioned 3-point barrage midway through the half.
MU's lead ballooned to 50 points with 1:45 remaining on a Marcus Goode (Chapin, S.C.) free throw. Goode pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds in his MU debut with eight points a block and a steal.
WVU Tech was led in scoring by Sam Robertson who recorded a game-high 24 points with eight rebounds. Victor McGee netted 12 points.
Redshirt junior Adam Williams (St. Albans, W.Va.) put down a thunderous fast-break dunk with 49 seconds remaining to give every Herd player at least two points. Freshman Dago Pena (Punta Gorda, Fla.) came up with a steal and nice assist to Williams to cap the season-opener for MU.
Pena scored five points with three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 15 minutes off the bench. Fellow freshman Damier Pitts (Charlotte, N.C.) started at point guard as Jones inserted two true freshmen into his starting lineup.
"(WVU Tech) came out ready and coach (Bob) Williams does a terrific job up there," Jones said. "He's a very good coach and we appreciate them coming in here. I thought his team competed. Obviously they got a little bit tired towards the end but that's what our style of play can do; it can be very dangerous in wearing your opponent down and you can have spurts where you can really separate yourself. We're not missing a beat when we're up so we can keep the intensity up."
The game marked the first time that Marshall reached the 100-point plateau since a 101-100 overtime loss at Morehead State on Dec. 17, 2002.
The game officially served as the first game of the Glenn Wilkes Classic. Marshall will complete the neutral site portion of the event when it travels to Daytona Beach, Fla., next weekend for three games in three days, beginning with a matchup with Morgan State on Nov. 21 at the Ocean Center.
