Marshall Men’s Basketball Recap
By Ben Anderson, FM88 Sports
Jan. 31, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — Marshall men’s basketball made a comeback to get within two points after trailing by as much as 20, but it was not enough as the Herd fell Thursday 86-81 against Georgia State.
The game started hot in the advantage of the visiting Panthers, making seven of its first eight shots and taking a 11-5 lead.
Marshall then turns on the intensity as Mikal Dawson would hit four trifectas in a span of two minutes as Marshall would go on a 14-4 run to take a 24-20 lead with 11:52 remaining in the first half.
“It was a good run, but we shot 30 threes in 66 shots,” Marshall head men’s basketball coach Cornelius Jackson said in his postgame news conference. “That’s probably too many, even though we made 12. I want to see us attack the basket a bit more and get to the line.”
The Panthers quickly responded by outscoring Marshall 33-11 in the final 11:25 of the first half to take a 51-37 halftime lead.
“We came out soft,” Marshall forward Obinna Anochili-Killen said in the postgame news conference. “Kudos to Georgia State. The Bigs, went to their house and busted them up, and they came to my house to bust me. We have to start the first five minutes the way we do the last five. We can’t have situations like that.”
The Panthers shot 71% from the field in the first half and was 5 of 10 from behind the arch. Panthers center Cesare Edwards led the way in the half with 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
“We went back to the locker room and tried to take their rhythm away,” Anochili-Killen said. “But it was too late. We have to start doing that in the first half. I’m taking responsibility for that. It starts with me.”
Georgia State took a 20-point lead in with 13:28 to go with senior Nick McMullen hitting a layup.
Dezayne Mingo began the comeback effort for the herd with a triple that gave him 21 with 8:09 remaining to put Marshall within single digits for the first time in the second half, 73-64.
“We did a solid job of outscoring them in the second half, but you can’t get down 20 on your home court,” Jackson said. “They were hitting 3s, posting up and having their way all game.”
Anochili-Killen drained a 3-pointer in transition to put the Herd within two points with 15 seconds to go, but the Panthers made their free throws down the stretch for the win.
Marshall outscored Georgia State 33-17 in the second half.
Leading the way for the Panthers was Edwards with 27 points, Mingo finished with 27 for the Thundering Herd.
The loss snapped a 3-game winning streak for Marshall and broke a 4-game losing skid for Georgia State.
Marshall fell to 13-10 (6-4) in the Sun Belt Conference and welcomes Coastal Carolina on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the second of a three game homestand.