Marshall Men’s Basketball lost its final regular season home contest 65-58 against the Sun Belt powerhouse Appalachian State Mountaineers on Saturday, Feb. 24.
In the first 20 minutes of the contest, App State struggled to make shots, allowing the Herd to keep it close. The Mountaineers shot 29% from the floor making only nine of its first 31 shots.
The Herd’s three-point centered offense struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 2-10 in the first half and 3-23 on the night. Despite the low shooting percentages, Marshall kept the game close in the first half. Going into halftime, Marshall led the Mountaineers 29-23.
“We didn’t shoot the ball very well,” head coach Dan D’Antoni said. “I thought we played hard enough. That’s the good thing: we competed.”
The Herd kept the game competitive until a 9-0 run from the Mountaineers in the late stages of the contest, putting the Herd in a 12-point hole that they were unable to climb out of.
Shooting struggles that have followed the Herd this season were prominent in the second half, going 1-13 from three.
“Anytime you can shoot 32 [percent from the field] and 13 [percent from three] against the best team in the league and one of the most offensively efficient teams in the country and get beat by seven points, you played well enough, but you have to shoot the basketball,” D’Antoni said.
Mountaineer Myles Tate showed that offensive efficiency by going 9-14 and leading App State in scoring with 25 points.
Kevon Voyles and Kamdyn Curfman, both of whom were honored in the pregame senior ceremony, tallied a team-leading 19 points. Despite the Mountaineers shutting Curfman down from his comfort zone behind the arc going 1-8 from long range, the senior finished the night 8-19.
The Herd out-rebounded the Mountaineers on the offensive glass 18-13, with both teams finishing the night with 46 boards. Transfer standout Nate Martin followed his career-high 16 rebound performance on Wednesday night against James Madison with another night of double-digit rebounds, finishing with 14.
