Tulane University
Marshall
Green Wave Drop Heartbreaker to Marshall, 58-55
Feb 20, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2010
NEW ORLEANS - Another down-to-the-wire game found the Tulane men's basketball team on the short end as the Green Wave fell at home to Marshall, 58-55, on Saturday night in Fogelman Arena.
Tulane (7-19, 2-11 C-USA) did get shot at tying the game in the final seconds despite making just 15 of 29 free throws and allowing Marshall (20-7, 8-4 C-USA) to shoot 63.6 percent from the floor in the second half.
"Marshall was just able to make more plays down the stretch then us," Tulane head basketball coach Dave Dickerson said. "Their talent really took over deep in the second half. Wilkerson and Whiteside's height, length and talent just offset what I thought was a good effort from my team.
"Probably the biggest stat in the game was our inability to make free throws at home," Dickerson added. "We were 15 of 29 and at one point this season we were the best free throw shooting team in conference USA."
The Green Wave trailed by three with 11.0 seconds remaining after Marshall's Damier Pitts missed the second of a two-shot free throw, David Booker grabbed his eighth rebound of the game and Kevin Sims 3-pointer with 01.0 on the clock spun off the rim.
The game saw 12 lead changes and 12 ties, including nine of each in the second half, but Marshall was able to take the lead for good with 5:09 left on a dunk by Shaquille Johnson. A minute before Tulane's Kris Richard game the Green Wave its last lead of the game, 47-45, with a 3-pointers with 6:05 left. A lay-up by Pitts 10 seconds later tied the game for the 11th time.
Tulane was able to tie it one more time, 51-51, on a Kendall Timmons jumper with 3:29 remaining. Tyler Wilkerson broke the tie eight seconds later with a jumper in the lane.
A 3-pointer by Johnny Mayhane with 0:15 left cut the Marshall lead back to 57-55 before the free throws by Pitts and the missed shot by Sims made it a final.
Booker led Tulane with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Timmons finished with 10 points and six boards. Terrance Beasley came off the bench to record a career-high in points with nine and rebounds with six.
Wilkerson led Marshall with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Hassan Whiteside added 10 points, five rebounds and seven blocked shots.
As a team Marshall connected on 43.1 percent (22-51) from the floor in the game, including the 63.6 percent (14-22) in the second half. Tulane hit 36.0 percent (18-50) from the floor in the game.
"In the first half our defense was outstanding," Dickerson said. "To hold a team that is averaging 80 points to 27 percent from the field was outstanding by our team. But, as good as our defense was in the first that is how bad it was in the second half because they shot 63 percent from the field."
Marshall did enter the game as one of the conference's highest scoring teams, scoring 80.2 points per game, but Tulane's defense did a good job of holding the Thundering Herd down with eight steals and forcing 14 turnovers.
Tulane held a 25-24 advantage at the break after retaking the lead with 6:40 remaining in the opening half on a Booker 3-pointer. Booker drained another 3-pointer seconds later to put the Green Wave up, 23-19. That turned out to be the final field goal of the half for either team. Marshall's last field goal of the half came off the hands of Johnson with 8:32 left that put the Herd up 19-15.
The Green Wave will have a week off before traveling to Birmingham, Ala., to take on the UAB Blazers next Saturday at 1 p.m. CST.
GAME NOTES
- Tulane's starting lineup of Kevin Sims, Eric Vianney, Kendall Timmons, David Booker and Asim McQueen is the 12th different lineup the Green Wave has started this season.
- David Booker scored in double figures for the sixth time this season and the sixth game of his career with his 19 points today.
- Tulane's halftime lead, 25-24, marked the sixth lead at the break for the Green Wave this season and the first since the home game against Rice on Jan. 13.
- Kevin Sims first field goal of the game, early in the second half, gave the senior point guard 1,301 points in his career becoming the 16th player in school history to reach the milestone. He finished the game with five points, giving him 1,303 points.
- Terrance Beasley's nine points and six rebounds are both career highs for the freshman forward. His previous highs were eight points vs. Alabama State and five rebounds at home vs. East Carolina.
- Kendall Timmons scored in double figures for the 10th time this season and the 12th game of his career with his 10 points today. It also marks his sixth straight double figure scoring game.
