Marshall Men’s Basketball took its third consecutive loss this weekend after being defeated 74-67 by Coastal Carolina on Saturday, Feb. 17, in Conway, South Carolina.
The loss was also the third straight loss on the road for Marshall, and their fifth straight loss on the road in Sun Belt Conference play.
Marshall was down 35-33 at halftime, only to be outscored by five in the final 20 minutes of regulation. In the second half, the Herd shot 38% from the field, whereas the Chanticleers completed 62% of its shot attempts. After a late 17-5 run by the Herd to make the score 64-65 with 4 minutes and 16 seconds remaining, Marshall only netted one of 10 shots down the stretch.
“We had 20 more shots than they did,” head coach Dan D’Antoni said postgame. “We have to start knocking some shots down.”
The Herd completed 24 of 72 total shots from the field on Saturday, with the Chanticleers sinking the same number of shots on only 52 shot attempts.
Marshall’s shooting percentage on Saturday, 33.3%, was only slightly better than that in their last conference, 32.8%.
Team-leading scorer Obinna Anochili-Killen spent only 15 minutes on-court without foul trouble and netted only two points. Four games ago in Huntington, Anochili-Killen notched a career-high 30 points versus the Chanticleers.
Kevon Voyles led the Herd in points scored for a third consecutive contest with 15 but shot 6-17 from the field. Nate Martin had a team-leading 37 minutes on-court but shot 1-7 from the field for four points. Kamdyn Curfman was also 5-16 for 13 points.
“You can’t shoot 20 more times like we did,” D’Antoni said. “We’re just not making shots, and we’ve got to make them.”
It’s apparent that Marshall can, in fact, shoot the ball 20 more times than an opponent. However, shooting the ball more and creating scoring opportunities isn’t translating to success for the Herd; a game ago versus App State, from the field, Marshall shot the ball 10 more times than the Mountaineers and lost the game 73-58.
Shooting the ball less from the field hasn’t translated to success in scoring, either. Two games ago, Marshall attempted 16 less shots from the field than Troy, and the Trojans outscored the Herd 82-66.
“We just don’t have that swagger right now that you got to have,” D’Antoni said. “Hopefully we can get it before we get to the [Sun Belt] tournament.”
Marshall now drops to a 12-15 overall record and 3-7 record on the road this season. It’s the Herd’s second 3-game losing streak this season in conference play, totaling six of its seven losses. The Herd ranks seventh of 12 teams in the Sun Belt standings with a 7-7 conference record.
Marshall returns to the court at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21, when the Cam Henderson Center hosts the Herd’s rematch of the James Madison Dukes.
