Marshall Outlasts Coppin State 69-63

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall shot 58 percent from the field in the second half to push past Coppin State 69-63 Saturday night at the Cam Henderson Center.

The Thundering Herd (6-4), which was bothered all night by the Eagles (1-8) zone defense, trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half. Marshall took its first lead of the game, 49-48 with 9:51 to play, on a three-pointer by Elijah Pittman.

The Eagles then pushed its lead back to six points, 55-49, by scoring the next seven points of the game. D.D. Scarver, who led all players with 20 points, then hit back-to-back three-pointers to help the Herd finish the game on a 20-8 scoring run.

Scarver hit 4-of-9 three-point attempts and grabbed a career-high five rebounds. Marshall was 5-of-9 from three-point range in the second half after going just 2-for-16 in the first. The Herd shot 12-of-38 (31.6 percent) from the field in the first half before going 14-of-24 (58.3 percent) in the second half.

"Another hard fought win," said head coach Tom Herrion. "Give Coppin a lot of credit. They played exactly how I thought they'd play. They just kept playing and had a lot of confidence early."

Senior forward Dennis Tinnon recorded his 15th career double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. He and senior center Nigel Spikes (11) paced the Herd to 47 boards compared to just 29 by the Eagles. Marshall also benefited from 20 offensive rebounds.

Junior guard DeAndre Kane had another solid all-around game with nine points, five rebounds and 11 assists.

"We had 26 made baskets with 21 assists," Herrion said. "We are being unselfish. We are moving the ball. We still cannot put the ball in the basket around the lane. It's killing us early in the game."

Redshirt freshman DeVince Boykins came off the bench and played a career-high 11 minutes. His three-pointer at the 13:25 mark of the second half was his first career points and helped lead the comeback.

"Our bench gave us some good minutes tonight," Herrion said. "Tamron Manning and Boykins in particular gave us really good minutes tonight and in that second half especially."

Along with strong bench play, Marshall also benefited by staying out of foul trouble as it was called for just nine fouls.

The Herd's next game will be next Saturday against Cincinnati at 2 p.m. in Charleston. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

MARSHALL POSTGAME NOTES

Marshall (6-4) 69 - Coppin State (1-8) 63

12/8/12

Cam Henderson Center - 5,152

Marshall Starters (Career/Season): Dennis Tinnon (44/9), Nigel Spikes (43/10), D.D. Scarver (9/9), Elijah Pittman (9/9), Chris Martin (1/1)

Series History: Marshall is 1-0 all-time against Coppin State

Marshall's Win…

Makes MU 5-0 at home for the first time since the 2009-10 season when it began the year 10-0 inside the Cam Henderson Center.

Improves the Herd's mark to 8-1 all-time against MEAC teams.

Gives Marshall its 1,389 all-time program win.

Makes MU 343-106 all-time inside the Henderson Center.

Improves head coach Tom Herrion to 129-68 all-time and 49-30 as the head coach at Marshall.

Gives the Herd a record of 27-6 in games under Herrion when it outrebounds the opponent by 10 or more.

Team Notes

Marshall has won the opening tip in 10 of its 11 games (Hofstra).

The Thundering Herd has now made a three pointer in 689 consecutive games.

MU took its first lead of the contest at the 9:51 mark of the second half with an Elijah Pittman three pointer.

Coach Herrion picked up his 49th win at Marshall. With a win in the next few games, he will become the quickest Herd coach to 50 wins since Rick Huckabay (1983-89).

Marshall tied a season-high with 21 assists (at Hofstra).

Twenty offensive rebounds gives MU its second game this season (Morehead State, 24) in which it has collected 20 or more boards on the offensive glass. It is the 10th time the Herd, under Herrion has had at least 20 offensive rebounds.

The Herd committed a season-low nine fouls. It is the lowest total since a game versus UAB February 9, 2011.

Individual Notes

Chris Martin made his first career start in his 28th career game.

Nigel Spikes played in his 100th career game, becoming the 34th Marshall player to be a part of 100 games.

Spikes had his 12th career game of double-digit rebounds with 11. It's the fourth time this season for the senior.

Dennis Tinnon had 15 rebounds, the 23rd time in his career and fourth time this season he has collected 10 or more rebounds in a game.

With his 15 rebounds and 15 points, Tinnon had his 15th career double-double and third this season. 11 of his double-doubles have come in Herd wins.

D.D. Scarver and Elijah Pittman each extended their made three pointer streak to 10 games (each game of their career).

Scarver has now scored double-digit points in seven straight games and has been the leader scorer in a game five times.

DeVince Boykins, in his third career game, scored his first Marshall points with a three pointer at the 13:25 mark of the second half. He also had his first career rebound, assist and steal in the game.

DeAndre Kane dished out 11 assists, marking his fourth career double-digit assist game and third of the season.

Elijah Pittman had 10 or more points for the eighth time during his nine game career with 14.

Tamron Manning played a career-high 12 minutes.