This season marks the 10th year with Coach Dan D’Antoni at the helm and what a ten
years it has been. There have been a lot of ups and downs, but under this staff Marshall
has reached heights it has never been to before. I wanted to look back at this past
decade and rank the top ten wins for the Herd!
#10 – Marshall vs UTEP 2020 CUSA Tournament (86-78)
This game is such a fascinating one because the next day the whole world was
shut down because of COVID and the season was canceled, but I truly believe that
Marshall would have made a run to the CUSA Championship if the pandemic didn’t
occur. Marshall was the 6th seed and they opened up the tournament playing UTEP
(11th seed) at The Star in Frisco. The Herd controlled most of this game with 41 points
combined from Taevion Kinsey (26) and Andrew Taylor (15). It seemed as if this team
was just starting to click, but I guess we’ll never know.
#9 – UAB vs Marshall 2022 (81-84)
During the middle of conference play in the 2021-22 season, Marshall pulled off
one of its most impressive victories of the D’Antoni era. UAB came into the contest with
a 17-5 record and were arguably the most talented team in the conference, led by Jelly
Walker. Marshall on the other hand was struggling to find any sort of identity or
momentum with a 8-13 record, but that all got thrown out the door in the Cam that night.
Led by Obinna Annochili-Killen with a double-double (23 points and 11 rebounds), the
Herd was able to stifle the Blazers. Marshall also got 19 points from Mikel Byers and 11
points from Kyle Braun off the bench. UAB went on to win the conference and represent
CUSA in the dance that year.
#8 – Marshall vs JMU 2023 (92-83)
Just this last season, Marshall went on the road in a hostile environment and
dropped 92 points on one of the Sun Belt’s best teams. Marshall had to win to maintain
control of the conference regular season title race, so the pressure was on. The Herd
responded by shooting over 48% from the field and with a slight 31 points by Taevion
Kinsey, Marshall cruised to a 92-83 win over the Dukes. This game set up a must win
against ODU to win the conference title, but we won’t get into that result. Nonetheless
this was a crucial and impressive win on the road for Marshall last year.
#7 – Georgia Southern vs Marshall 2023 (84-83)
This next game is also from last year and from a pure excitement standpoint this
one is up there with any basketball game I’ve seen. Marshall hosted a scrappy Georgia
Southern team and dug themselves in a hole all game. They found themselves down 11
with a minute and a half left and then a miracle happened. Marshall ended the game on
a 16-4 run and an Andy Taylor layup with 14 seconds left to go ended up being the
game winner. I don’t have the exact probability, but there must have been a .01%
chance Marshall could win this game with a minute left and for that alone is the reason
why this game made the list.
#6 – Southern Miss vs Marshall (106-108 OT)
This is the only game on the list that ended with a buzzer beater as Austin Loop
hit a game winning jumper to give Marshall the victory. The craziest part is that this
wasn’t even the only buzzer beater in this game. James Kelly caught a lob pass from
out of bounds to send the game to overtime. This game was absolutely wild and
featured 35 points and 8 assists from Jon Elmore and 24 points and 12 rebounds from
James Kelly. This was one of the first glimpses of the style of play we would see from
D’Antoni and it resulted in a huge win that locked up a top 4 seed for the Herd heading
into the CUSA Tournament.
#5 – Marshall vs LA Tech 2017 CUSA Semifinal (93-77)
Marshall beat the Dunkin Dogs in the CUSA Tournament to send them to their
first conference championship since 2012. The Herd just completely dominated one of
the premier programs in the conference, hanging 93 on them. This was such a balanced
win for Marshall, as they had 5 players in double figures, headlined by Jon Elmore (21
points), Ryan Taylor (19 points and 11 rebounds), and Stevie Browning (18 points and 7
assists). Marshall would go on to lose to Middle Tennessee State in the CUSA
Championship, but this run would set the stage for what was to come the following year.
#4 – Marshall vs (#24) MTSU 2018 (76-67)
On the final day of the regular season in 2018, Marshall picked up its only ranked
win of the D’Antoni era as they took down the #24 Middle Tennessee State Blue
Raiders in Murfreesboro. This was the moment that this team knew they could make the
dance, as they headed into the CUSA Tournament with a top 4 seed and a lot of
momentum. To pull off a quad 1 win on the road against the top team in your
conference is a major confidence boost. In this game both Jon Elmore and CJ Burks
tallied over 20 points and Jannson Williams added a double-double off the bench with
13 points and 11 rebounds.
#3 – Green Bay vs Marshall 2019 CIT Championship (70-90)
The 3rd game on this list is the CIT Championship where Marshall beat Green
Bay out of the Horizon League. Marshall had hopes of making the NCAA Tournament
for the second consecutive year in 2019, but they failed to qualify and ended up making
the CIT. As the top seed in the tournament, Marshall hosted every game including the
championship. Green Bay was no match for this Marshall team who completely
dominated the game, winning by 20. It was very fitting that both Jon Elmore and CJ
Burks went out as champions in the final game of their Marshall careers.
#2 – Marshall vs WKU 2018 CUSA Championship (67-66)
I want to start off by saying the next two games are interchangeable as the top
two games of the past ten years. This was the first and only CUSA Championship
Marshall ever won in basketball and it sent them to the NCAA Tournament for the first
time in 31 years. This game was phenomenal and came against the Herd’s biggest rival
in the conference. On the backs of Jon Elmore, Marshall escaped with a 67-66 victory,
which was coincidentally the same score of the WKU-Marshall football game in 2014,
when the Hilltoppers pulled off the upset in Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Sweet sweet
revenge.
#1 – Marshall vs Wichita State 2018 NCAA Tournament (81-75)
I chose to go with this one as the number one simply because it was the first time
Marshall has ever won a game in the NCAA Tournament and it was the closest they’ve
ever got to winning a National Championship in basketball. Marshall came into this
contest as a 13 seed, while Wichita State was a 4 seed, but as we know in March
Madness once the ball is tipped, seeds are thrown out the window. Jon Elmore did Jon
Elmore things (27 points) and with the help of CJ Burks (13 points) and Ajdin Penava
(16 points), the Herd was able to upset Conner Frankamp and the Shockers in one of
the most memorable moments in Marshall sports history.
