Thundering herd strikes down Panthers

A career night for Tymell Murphy was not enough to stop an offensive surge that would ultimately help Marshall defeat the Panthers, 80-68.

Murphy led all Panthers (11-10, 3-3 Conference USA) with 29 points, shooting 12-of-29 from the floor to record his eighth 20-point game of the season and 16th of his career.

The Brooklyn native is now also the 13th player in program history with 800 or more points, for a total of 825. His night also included eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.

Marshall (8-14, 2-5 Conference USA) had four players reach double figures, led by Chris Thomas who finished with 19 points.

Kareem Canty (16), Tamron Manning (15) and Ryan Taylor (14) also contributed to the Thundering Herds win, shooting 50.9 percent (29-of-57) from the field to the Panthers’ 45.2 (28-of-62).

The teams began the second half tied at 34 but they both switched leads six times throughout the night, but a three-pointer that had the Thundering Herd up 54-53 sparked a 9-2 run.

Redshirt Junior Dennis Mavin cut into the deficit and made it a four-point game but the Herd went running once again, this time 9-1.

Mavin finished with 12 points, while guard Cody Mann contributed with 10. Mann notched a career-high nine rebounds and a team-high four assists.

The Panthers did out rebound the Thundering Herd, 36-32, as well as out-scoring them 18-10 in second chance points.

The loss snapped the Panthers two-game winning streak, dropping their all-time record versus Marshall to 0-2.

The Panthers will remain on the road for a matchup against the Charlotte 49ers, Saturday.