Herd Thunder Past UC in OT

The Marshall Thundering Herd did what they hadn’t done since 1983, beat Cincinnati, 73-69. Marshall moves to 5-0, while UC falls to 3-2. Masrhall won this game fair and square, but UC had a couple of chances. Tied at the end of regulation, UC had the ball. For some reason Yancy Gates gets the ball on the right wing, drives 1 on 4 and his shot hit 2 feet to the right of the rim. The ball ended up in the hands of Cashmere Wright, but his put back from just inside the foul line was no good. Down by 2 in OT, UC went screen and roll with Gates and Kilpatrick. SK tried to split, but tripped and lost the ball. Damier Pitts iced the game seconds later. 

This was another frustrating game to watch. UC went 2-3 zone the last 5 minutes and in OT, but couldn’t get stops. Marshall ran a pair of lobs, where they screened the side man and middle man, successfully, pulled down a huge offensive rebound and drilled a couple of 3s. One of them was to start OT, and UC never recovered.  
Just like Presbyterian, UC had a 7 point lead with 6:30 to go. UC would score 8 points from that point on. They only got 2 FGs, a Gates put back after Dixon missed a FT, and a Gates layup with 1:13 to go. The offense came and went all night long. UC had a long string in the first half of about 7 minutes without a FG. The offense wasn’t really there from Dixon, who did score 12, and Cash, who was 2-10. Cash did throw up 10 assists against no turnovers with 4 steals. 

Another huge problem were free throws. Both teams shot 19. Marshall made 14. Guess how many UC made? That’s right 10. 14-10 is the margin of victory. In close games you have to make your free throws. The reliable Dixon was only 3-7. Combined with Gates and Cheikih Mbodj, they went 5-11. Sean Kilpatrick played very well, but disappeared offensively late. The bench offered only 3 points, going 2-7 and 1-4 at the line. 

The biggest difference in the game was on the glass. From the under 4 break of the first half on, Marshall killed UC on the glass. They won the battle of the boards 40-27 and wiped the floor with 16 offensive boards. They had 2 the first 16 minutes of the half. They got 53% of their misses, which is an outstanding number. That’s going to be something that Mick talks about postgame and throughout the week. Justin Jackson and Cheikh Mbodj both didn’t rebound well with a combined 8. Dennis Tinnon was a beast with 9 second half rebounds for 14 overall. He finished with a 14-14 double double. 

After the loss to Presbyterian, UC had very little margin for error in the non-conference slate. They could take 2 losses at most. Taking 2 in 5 games is not what the doctor ordered. The Crosstown Shootout December 10 is huge. It’s a must win. There is going to be absolutely nothing in the non-conference slate with a loss. With the Big East looking very top heavy and somewhat thin, you can’t bank on beating 7-16 and getting a bid. Xavier is going to be top 10, top 15. Gotta beat X.

This team isn’t playing well. I don’t really know what the major answer is. Play hard defense is something they did most of the game tonight. You give up 61 points, you are going to be in most of the games. This loss was to a good team, but a not a great team. I’m not sure that loss is going to be bad, but it’s not going to be a great thing. Backs are against the wall now. Miami and their tough system are next. It’s gonna be a long weekend. 

Box score via ESPN