Marshall Men’s Basketball Recap
By Rhys Owens, FM88 Sports
Feb. 26, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — On one of the first good nights of the month, the Marshall Thundering Herd Men’s Basketball Team took on the ODU Monarchs at the Cam Henderson Center in its second to last game of the regular season.
Marshall (17-12) came into the matchup on a two-game win streak, one of those wins being a road game against ODU. Meanwhile, the Monarchs (11-18) came to Huntington on a five-game skid, including four conference losses.
The contest saw a competitive first half with the Herd taking a 39-38 lead into the locker room. However, the tide would turn in the second when Marshall blew the game open, boasting an 11-point lead at the nine-minute mark.
The Herd closed the game strong, beating the Monarchs 83-66. Marshall was led by guard Dezayne Mingo, who had a 22-point outing, which was good for a team high and a game second best behind ODU guard Robert Davis Jr.’s 23.
Mingo wasn’t the only member of the Herd who showed up; the front court duo of Obinna Anochili-Killen and Nate Martin put on a show. Anochilli-Killen put up 18 points while grabbing eight rebounds and shooting 66% from the field. Meanwhile, Martin had a great game in his own right, scoring 12 points, grabbing five rebounds, and blocking two shots en route to the Herd win.
Marshall guard Mikal Dawson had a great game as well, going perfect in the first half for 11 points while shooting three for three from behind the arc.
Marshall definitively won the rebounding battle, grabbing 34 boards compared to ODU’s 24. The Herd also shot the lights out, shooting 57.7% from the field and a stellar 61.5% from three-point land.
During the post-game press conference, Anochilli-Killen took the podium for questions and was asked about ODU eventually cooling off throughout the game, “I mean we know we’re gonna get everybody’s best shot because I mean nobody plays in this kind of atmosphere that we play” said Anochili-Killen. “It was kind of like that against Arkansas State, you know they were hot and then the second half they cooled down.”
Mingo got high praise from Anochili-Killen, getting a comparison to the NBA’s second leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Despite the Herd’s regular season title hopes coming to an end earlier in the season, a Sun Belt Conference Tournament run is well within its grasp. A tournament sweep for Marshall would mean an NCAA tournament bid for the Herd.
Marshall looks to focus up, however, as it takes on the Appalachian State Mountaineers in the final game of the regular season here at the Cam Henderson Center on Friday at 9 p.m.