Marshall Men’s Basketball Recap
By Sean Kelly, FM88 Sports Director
Feb. 9, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — Seeking to gain ground in a tight Sun Belt Conference race, Marshall men’s basketball stormed into the Cam Henderson Center winning four of its past five games before facing its toughest competition yet: an Arkansas State Red Wolves team riding a seven-game winning streak.
The Red Wolves began the contest by proving its rank as the number one scoring offense in Sun Belt Conference play, going on a 10-2 run led by junior guard Joseph Pinion. After scoring five points in the first four minutes, Pinion continued to create problems for the Thundering Herd. The Morrilton, Ark. native ended the night one point shy of tying his season high of 22 points, earned against the Memphis Tigers on December 8.
Despite falling to a 10-point deficit within the first eight minutes, the Herd bullied the Red Wolves defense inside the arch. Through the first half, the home side scored 18 points in the paint to get within two points of the Red Wolves’ lead.
With the score tied at 26 with four minutes to play in the first half, the visiting side once again began to pull away with six made free throws during a 9-0 run, before graduate student guard Mikal Dawson ended the Herd’s half on a high note with a buzzer-beater three.
Heading out of halftime, Marshall picked up where it left off, taking its first lead of the contest with a triple by graduate student forward Obinna Anochili-Killen and outscoring Arkansas State 12-2 through the first three minutes.
From there, the Herd refused to relinquish the lead. As Wyatt Fricks continued the home team’s hot hand from three-point land, the Thundering Herd led by as much as 11 midway through the second half.
However, this gap did not bury the Red Wolves. With 2:09 left in the contest, redshirt sophomore guard Terrance Ford Jr. answered a Mikal Dawson trey with one of his own to put the visitors within three.
With a 50% rate from beyond the arc and 46% overall, the Red Wolves’ improved offense was not enough to seal its late comeback attempt, as the Herd scored five free throws in the final minute on its way to a 77-72 victory.
The win is Marshall’s third straight against the Red Wolves dating back to 2020, putting it in a five-way tie for second place in the Sun Belt Conference standings at a record of 15-10 and 8-4 in the Sun Belt. Meanwhile, Arkansas State’s first loss in nearly a month puts it at 18-6 overall and just one game ahead of the pack with a 9-3 conference record.
After an eight-day hiatus, the Herd hit the road to face the South Alabama Jaguars. During an 8 p.m. Thursday tip-off, the Thundering Herd now aim to jump ahead of another foe in the Sun Belt Conference standings.