Herd Insider Magazine - Official website. Cover Marshall Sports since 1998

By Woody Woodrum,

Herd Insider Senior Editor --

HUNTINGTON -Marshall and St. Bonaventure had not met since the 1950s, and last beat the Bonnies in 1957-58 at the Sugar Bowl Tournament with future NBA great Hal Greer, Jack Freeman, Leo Byrd and Sonny Allen starring for the then Marshall College.

On Saturday, this year's Marshall team won the game with a youngster who may have the potential to even out-shine the NBA Hall of Fame member.

Freshman Hassan Whiteside overcame early foul trouble to record his seventh double-double of the season to lead Marshall University past the Atlantic 10's St. Bonaventure 80-61 on a cold January 2, 2010 afternoon in men's basketball action at the Cam Henderson Center.

The second-best crowd of the season, 5,005, attended the matinee game for the Thundering Herd, its first of 2010.

The 7-foot center played only four minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls, scoring two points with a block and a rebound.

Whiteside was whistled for his third foul 50 seconds into the second half, but the Gastonia, N.C. native scored 15 of his 17 points and grabbed 11 of his 12 rebounds in the closing frame. Whiteside was not called for another foul in the contest.

Shaquille Johnson drove for a basket past St. Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson in the first half.  photo by Greg Perry/HI staff.

"I am proud of Hassan. I think he played great in the second half with rebounding and obviously scoring" said Marshall head coach Donnie Jones. "We knew St. Bonaventure wouldn't quit. They are a well coached team. But I am happy with the win."

Senior forward Tyler Wilkerson recorded his third double-double in the past four games, scoring 10 points and 12 rebounds. It is Wilkerson's 14th career double-double, the third most among active Conference USA players.

Marshall improved to 11-2 overall, headed into Tuesday's Conference USA opener with Southern Miss in Huntington. The Herd is 8-0 at home this year, and has won 13 in a row at home back to last year.

"It is always good to start off the New Year with a win," said Jones. "I am really proud of the team. It was another great effort from our bench, along with the starters. We played a very tough St. Bonaventure team from the Atlantic 10. We knew it was going to be a tough battle."

St. Bonaventure falls to 7-6 on year and is 0-5 on the road this season. The Bonnies return home to open A-10 play with George Washington this Wednesday.

Junior point guard Ogo Adegboye led the Bonnies with 15 points, getting his first start and playing 40 minutes in the absence of Malcomb Eleby who was suspended for a violation of team rules and did not travel. Senior Jonathan Hall added 11 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double and his 12th game in 13 with double-digit scoring.

Sophomore Andrew Nicholson had 11 points, about five points below his average, and eight rebounds. St. Bonaventure shot only 36.7 percent from the floor and MU held the brown and white to only 5-of-22 from three, 22.7 percent.

St. Bonaventure entered the game shooting 50 percent from the floor and 33 percent from three on the season. The Bonnies' bench were out-scored by Marshall's bench, 26-9, out-scored in the paint by ten, 40-30, and also out-scored by ten in points off turnovers, 22-12.

Hassan Whiteside put up two of his 17 points over St. Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson in the first half.  photo by Greg Perry/HI staff.

Marshall and the Bonnies traded the lead five times in the first six minutes, until a Darryl Merthie three gave Marshall a 12-7 lead. The Herd would lead 39-30 at halftime.

After halftime, the Herd used a 19-6 run to start the second half to take their largest lead of the game, 23 points (59-36) at the 11:02 mark. The Thundering Herd held the Bonnies to 2-of-19 shooting during the span.

"We did a better job in the second half from a defensive stand point. I am happy with how we defended" said Jones. Marshall also hit the glass, out-rebounding St. Bonaventure 25-19 in the second half and 39-to-36 for the game.

Jones didn't want to go to the zone defense until the second half, and give the Bonnies' coach Mark Schmitt a chance to adjust at halftime to the defense. The zone also protected Whiteside a bit inside and kept him from drawing the fourth or fifth foul.

"I think the zone was a nice change in the second half," said Jones. "It held them to taking jump shots and it took away their inside game.

St. Bonaventure cut the Herd's lead down to 69-59 with 2:53 to go, but Marshall responded with an 8-2 spurt to put the game away, with free throws by Whiteside (hitting 3-of-4) and sophomore point guard Damier Pitts (4-of-4) in the last two minutes.

Whiteside, the Conference USA leader in blocked shots, swatted away six Bonnies' attempts. He also made a season high five free throws (5-of-6) and recorded a steal.

Whiteside raised his season blocks' total to 65, tying him with Jean Francois Bro Grebe (2006-07) for the second most in a single season by a Herd player. Whiteside is now 11th in Marshall school history for career blocks.

Sophomores Dago Pena and Shaquille Johnson each scored 11 for the Thundering Herd. Pena was perfect on the day, hitting 5-of-5 from the floor and 1-of-1 from three for his 11 points.

"St. Bonventure kept fighting, that's why at the end you have to execute on the offensive end and defensive end," Johnson said. "If you don't, then luck might come into play.

"They brought the lead back down, but we buckled down and executed at the end. In the conference, when you play against teams like UAB, Houston and Memphis, you know they are going to bring it every night. The scout you and they know what you are going to do, so you have to be ready."

Marshall opens Conference USA play Tuesday night when the Thundering Herd hosts 9-4 Southern Miss at 7 p.m. 13 wins in a row at home, dating back to Feb. 7, 2009, is the sixth-longest home winning streak in school history.

Jones is looking to build upon the non-conference winning, and hopes more fans will show up for Conference USA games.

"We had a great crowd today. I would like to thank the fans for coming out," said Jones. "I am proud of this basketball team and we open up conference play on Tuesday with a very good Southern Miss team.

"What we would like to do is fill this building up with 6,000-7,000 Marshall fans for Southern Miss and the rest of the Conference USA games."

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