WKU Basketball: Marshall Shoots WKU Out of Texas, Tops Fall 67–66
Marshall put on a shooting clinic in the second half, shooting 44.8% from the floor and 60% from three, as they took advantage of sloppy offense and untimely defense from WKU to win an unpredicatbly close game, 67–66, in the Conference USA tournament title game and earning a birth in the NCAA Tournament next weekend.
WKU used an 11–0 run over the game’s final 3:27 to turn a 67–55 deficit in to a 67–66 one, and had an opportunity to take a lead with 18-ish seconds to play, as Lamonte Bearden drove to the basket but couldn’t get the ball to fall off the glass, and Josh Anderson jumped to try and grab the rebound just a moment to early in his attempt to put it back as Marshall came away with the rebound, and ultimately the possession with eight seconds remaining.
Following an Anderson foul in the backcourt, Marshall was able to successfully inbound the ball and run the clock out to seal the deal, despite not scoring in the final 3:40 of the game.
Before making a run in the waning moments of the evening, the Tops couldn’t have come out of the halftime break, of which they trailed only 34–31, worse. Marshall got a quick bucket from Adjin Penava, going to the rim unguarded, and from there things began to escalate, leading to the Tops starting the half shooting an abysmal 12.5% from the floor (1-for-8).
During that same stretch, Marshall was shooting some of the hottest ball you’ll ever see anyone shoot — Jon Elmore couldn’t miss (he finished with a game-high 27 points) and the Herd combined to shoot 46.2% from three alone in the back half of the game.
The Tops and Herd, for the most part, matched one another step for step in the first half. It was a period that saw eight ties and nine lead changes, and neither team led by more than four points in the opening 20 minutes.
In the opening 25 seconds of the game, Taveion Hollingsworth took a shot to the face and had to leave the game momentarily, but it obviously rattled him as he finished the first half with just two points (both of which came from the free throw line) and three rebounds in 15 minutes.
The Tops had no solution for Penava in the opening half, who had 11 points, and shot 3-for-5 from behind the arc, and added five rebounds to his line.
WKU did begin to figure out C.J. Burks a bit, as they learned to crash quickly as he began to drive to keep him from having easy looks in the paint.
Speaking of easy looks in the paint, the Tops missed about 30% of the shots they had from directly underneath the basket, helping contribute to their less-than-desirable 31.4% first half shooting percentage.
Marshall breaks a 31-year tournament drought (a drought that WKU fans think the Tops are in), and congrats to them. WKU didn’t have enough of an answer — or really, any answer — to Elmore in the second half or Penava in the first.
Now, we play the waiting game. If Twitter is to be believed, the Tops’ only shot at an NIT is if MT gets an at-large bid. We know the Tops wont accept a bid from any other tournament, so we’ll have to wait and see if the Tops’ 2017/18 season is done.
Final stats, if you dare:
