App State men’s basketball started the new year with a trip to Huntington, West Virginia to face Marshall University Saturday. A late rally by the Mountaineers from 17 points down fell short, and Marshall handed App State an 88-81 loss.
The Mountaineers lost junior guard Eren Banks from the game after a collision with a Marshall player while going for a rebound less than 3 minutes in. Banks left the court and did not play for the rest of the game.
Sophomore forward Michael Marcus Jr. was the main source of points for App State to start the afternoon, scoring 6 of the Mountaineers’ first 10 points in the game.
App State was able to score consistently in the opening minutes, but the Thundering Herd had an answer for every App State basket. Marshall held a 3-point lead seven minutes into the game.
Graduate student guard Kasen Jennings cut the deficit to 1 with a mid-range jumper with just over 12 minutes left in the half, but a poor sequence by the Mountaineers allowed Marshall to pull away. App State committed a turnover and missed back-to-back free throws after Jennings’ basket, while the Thundering Herd made 2 layups along with an emphatic dunk to stretch their advantage to 7 points midway through the half.
App State’s season-long free throw struggles emerged again, shooting only 41.7% from the line in the first half. The missed opportunities for points, paired with open shots not falling and several turnovers, allowed the Thundering Herd to extend their lead to 12 with four minutes remaining in the half.
Sophomore guard Jason Clarke Jr. splashed a high arcing 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to stop the bleeding. Senior guard Alonzo Dodd followed suit shortly after, connecting on a 3-pointer to trim the lead to 6.
Marshall snatched the momentum right back by hitting a 3-pointer, then forced a shot clock violation and hit another 3-pointer with a minute left to restore their 12-point lead. App State trailed, 32-44, going into halftime.
The Thundering Herd came out red-hot to begin the second half, hitting two 3-pointers and a dunk. App State, on the other hand, struggled out of the locker room, missing 7 of their first 10 shots.
Marshall led by as much as 17 points — 54-37 — four minutes into the second half. The Mountaineers began to chip away at the Thundering Herd’s control of the game, in large part due to graduate student guard Jalen Tot. Tot caught fire from beyond the arc, drilling back-to-back 3-pointers to reduce the deficit to 10, and Marshall called a timeout.
Tot made another 3-pointer after the timeout, and App State continued the comeback effort with baskets from Jennings and redshirt sophomore center Luke Wilson. Wilson made 2 free throws with under five minutes left to put the Mountaineers within 3 points.
However, Marshall would not relinquish their lead. The Thundering Herd made a 3-pointer, then Marcus turned the ball over, and Marshall cashed in seconds later with a layup to push the lead back to 8.
Wilson threw down back-to-back dunks, and App State clawed back to make it a 2-point game with 2 minutes left. Wilson finished with 19 points in the game.
The 2-point deficit was the closest the Mountaineers got, as Marshall hit a jumper, a 3-pointer and two free throws in the span of a minute while App State missed back-to-back shots, giving the Thundering Herd a 84-75 lead with 39 seconds remaining.
Despite a pair of late 3-pointers by Marcus to give him a season-high 21 points, Marshall made their free throws down the stretch and held on to win, 88-81.
App State shot just 47.5% from the field and 54.8% from the free throw line in the game. The Mountaineers have the worst free throw shooting percentage in the country at 60.4%.
App State travels to Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday to take on Georgia State in their third game of a four-game road trip. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
