Herd Men Travel to Daytona Beach for Three Games at Glenn Wilkes Classic
The Marshall University men's basketball team will participate in its
first regular-season tournament in two years when it takes to the Ocean
Center court for the second annual Glenn Wilkes Classic, beginning with
Friday's matchup with Morgan State at 2 p.m. ET.
The Thundering Herd (1-0) will play three games in three days in Daytona
Beach, Fla., in its first road trip of the season. Following Friday's tilt
with Morgan State, the 2008 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season
champions, Marshall will face Wis.-Green Bay on Saturday at 2 p.m. and
Mississippi on Sunday at 4 p.m.
The Glenn Wilkes Classic will conclude a busy first stretch of the season
for Marshall, which opened the 2008-09 campaign on Sunday with a 110-57
rout of WVU Tech. The game marked the first time Marshall eclipsed the
100-point plateau since a 101-100 overtime loss at Morehead State on Dec.
17, 2002. Coupled with Sunday's season-opener at the Cam Henderson Center,
the Glenn Wilkes Classic forces the Herd to play four games in eight days
to commence head coach Donnie Jones' second season at MU.
Jones, an assistant coach at Florida for 11 seasons prior to his accepting
the head coach position at Marshall in April of 2007, will face a
Southeastern Conference opponent for the first time since his days as a
Gator.
Five Marshall players reached double digits in points in the opener and
all 13 players on the roster sank at least one field goal. Freshman
Shaquille Johnson (Jacksonville, Fla.) paced the Herd with 19 points in
his collegiate debut, going 6-for-8 from the floor and 4-for-5 from
3-point range against the Golden Bears.
Johnson is one of four Herd players returning to their home state for the
Glenn Wilkes Classic, joining fellow freshmen Dago Pena (Punta Gorda,
Fla.) and Kore White (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) along with senior guard
Darryl Merthie (Sanford, Fla.). Johnson is the reigning two-time Florida
Class 5A Player of the Year and Pena, a 6-foot-6 guard/forward, was
runner-up in the voting last season. In White's last game in the Sunshine
State, he hoisted the Class 5A state title trophy as a prep star at
Dillard High School.
Fifteen of Marshall's 31 regular-season games come against teams that
qualified for postseason basketball in 2008. The Herd will face two such
foes at the Glenn Wilkes Classic when it takes on National Invitation
Tournament participants Morgan State and Mississippi. The Rebels advanced
all the way to the NIT Final Four.
Morgan State (1-2), the MEAC preseason favorites, dropped a heartbreaking
61-60 decision at Manhattan on Wednesday. Reggie Holmes, MSU's leading
scorer at 11.7 points per game, netted 12 points with a 4-for-7 mark from
3-point range in the loss to the Jaspers.
UW-Green Bay (0-1) will take on Rollins College on Friday in advance of
its matchup with the Herd on Saturday. The Phoenix dropped its
season-opener at Utah on Tuesday.
Ole Miss (2-0) will take on Utah on Friday at the Ocean Center and get a
day off on Saturday prior to Sunday's game versus Marshall. The Rebels
posted wins over Arkansas State and South Alabama earlier in the week.
Marshall's participation in the Glenn Wilkes Classic will mark its first
non-conference games in the state of Florida since December of 1991 (Palm
Beach Classic).
All three of Marshall's games in the Glenn Wilkes Classic can be heard
live on the Thundering Herd/ISP Sports Network or via internet radio
streaming on Herd All-Access (HerdZone.com). Vince Payne will call all the
action with Woody Woodrum providing color analysis.
Courtesy of Bob Pristash, Marshall University Assistant Sports Information
Director
Fifth Third Classic To Take Place Friday and Saturday
On Friday and Saturday, the Thundering Herd women's basketball team will
host the Seventh Annual Fifth Third MU Classic. The University of
Louisiana at Monroe and Morgan State open the tournament up Friday at 4
p.m. and will be followed by Marshall and Tennessee State at 7.
Saturday's opener will feature Tennessee State against either ULM or
Morgan State at 2 p.m. with Marshall taking on the other one at 5.
Marshall enters the tournament with a perfect 2-0 record. After topping
Appalachian State, 67-65, on the road last Friday, the Herd pulled away to
defeat North Texas by a 78-69 margin on Monday evening.
Tynikki Crook has been the star for the Thundering Herd thus far. After
scoring 16 points in the opener, Crook tallied a career high 21 points and
13 rebounds en route to the sixth double-double of her career.
Junior Alix Barnette has also gotten off to a hot start, averaging 13.5
PPG. What may be more important is that of her 27 points, 44% (12 points)
have come in the last 3:21 of the contests. Against ASU, her late
three-pointer was pivotal in Marshall's comeback while her consecutive
buckets against North Texas in the final two minutes extended the MU lead
from one possession to three.
Friday's opponent Tennessee State enters the weekend with a mark of 1-1.
The Tigers opened their season with two opponents familiar to Marshall. In
their opener, TSU topped Jackson State, a participant in last year's Fifth
Third Classic, by a 62-46 margin. Tennessee State fell to C-USA favorite
Southern Miss in their second contest, 79-57.
TSU is led by seniors Tiffany Jackson and Kendra Appling, who average 17.0
and 14.5 PPG, respectively. Jackson recorded a double-double against
Southern Miss, finishing with 23 points and 11 boards.
In the opening contest of the tournament, ULM and Morgan State will square
off. Like Tennessee State, the Warhawks enter the tournament with a record
of 1-1. ULM opened the season with a 77-38 loss at Arkansas before topping
Centenary by a 76-60 score on Tuesday evening. Senior Lottie Moore leads
the Warhawks in scoring and rebounding, averaging 8.5 per game.
Morgan State is a perfect 3-0 coming into the weekend. The Lady Bears
began the season by winning the UNC-Asheville Tournament last weekend.
Morgan State rolled past William & Mary, 70-48, in the opener before
holding off Fairfield in the championship, 57-55. They moved to 3-0 after
topping North Carolina Central on Monday.
Junior Corin Adams has had a strong start the season, averaging 19.0 PPG
and 5.0 RPG. She was named the MVP of the UNC-Asheville Tournament after
scoring a career high 27 points against William & Mary.
This will mark the seventh year of the Fifth Third Classic. Marshall is
11-1 in the tournament. The only loss came in last season's championship
game where the Herd fell to Pittsburgh, who finished the season ranked in
the top 20. The score of that contest was 70-66. Morgan State makes its
second appearance in the tournament. The Lady Bears fell to Marshall,
88-34, in 2003.
After the tournament, the team will have to off days before facing
Morehead State on Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Courtesy of Bob Pristash, Marshall University Assistant Sports Information
Director
