| Marshall Receives Votes In Associated Press Poll, Whiteside C-USA Rookie of Week |
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| Written by Woody Woodrum | |||||
| Monday, 18 January 2010 15:00 | |||||
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By Woody Woodrum,
Herd Insider Senior Editor --
HUNTINGTON - Marshall's Thundering Herd received votes in the Associated Press poll of men's college basketball Division I teams, released by the AP on Monday, January 18, 2010.
Marshall will face No. 11 West Virginia (13-3) in the annual Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic on Wednesday in the doubleheader pitting WVU's women's team, No. 18 in last week's poll and 17-1 and winner's of 15 games in a row, against the 11-6 MU women at 6:30 p.m., a game fans can hear in Huntington on SuperTalk 94.1 FM and AM 930.
The men's game tips at 9:00 p.m., with the pre-game on the Thundering Herd/ISP Sports Network at 8:30 p.m. Marshall is just 10-27 against WVU all-time, 4-14 in the Capital Classic played in Charleston yearly since 1992 and 4-15 all-time in the Civic Center versus the Mountaineers.
Flagship stations 93.7 FM, The Dawg, and SuperTalk will have coverage of the game. The Dawg, 93.7 FM will also have Jeff "Crawdawg" Crawford live from the Charleston Civic Center from 4-7 p.m., then will be live from the Marshall Alumni Pre-Game reception from 7-8:30 p.m. There is no charge for the event, which has food, prizes, a cash bar and much more for MU fans in the South Hall of the Civic Center.
Also announced on Monday, Marshall reshman Hassan Whiteside was named the C-USA Rookie of the Week by a media panel representing each conference member for games through Jan. 17. Whiteside averaged 17 points per game, along with 13 rebounds and nine blocks for the Herd, who extended its overall win streak to six games in a row. The 7-footer picked up his second triple-double (only the second in Marshall history) at UCF with 14 points, 14 rebounds and ten blocks.
 Hassan Whiteside is the C-USA Rookie of the Week for the third time this season, and will lead Marshall into Wednesday's Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic at 9 p.m. Wed. in the Charleston Civic Center - HI photo by Greg Perry.
He nearly did the triple-double against against Tulane, with 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks. Whiteside is the NCAA leader in blocks per game at 5.6, and his 95 blocks is only six from the single-season record of 101 set by Omar "The Fly Swatter" Roland in 1989-90 for MU. He is now No. 9 on the blocks in a career category for the Herd.
Ohio State's Evan Turner is the only other player in the nation with two triple-doubles. Kenyon Martin, former Cincinnati standout when the Bearcats were in C-USA, is the only player in the league to have two and no C-USA player has ever registered three.
Marshall is tied for No. 43 with Xavier, also receiving two votes this week. 17-0 Texas is No. 1, followed by Kentucky, 18-0, and then Kansas, Villanova, Syracuse (who beat WVU on Saturday, 72-71, in Morgantown), Michigan State, Duke, Tennessee, Pittsburgh and Kansas State rounding out the top ten.
Ohio State is ranked at No. 21, while MU opponents North Carolina is No. 24, UAB is receiving 59 votes (making the Blazers No. 29 and the highest-ranked C-USA team) and Old Dominion is tied at No. 42 with three votes.
UNC and ODU are Marshall's only losses of the season, and both were on the road. Marshall is 5-2 away from the Cam Henderson Center, including a Nov. win over Ohio at the Charleston Civic Center in the championship game of the Global Sports Invitational.
MU beat Tulane on Saturday, 89-79, to stay at the top of C-USA, and also has wins over Southern Miss and at East Carolina and UCF. The Herd's victory was the 15-straight at the Henderson Center, named for legendary Marshall coach Cam Henderson, who pioneered the fast break and zone defense, in game No. 400 at the building opened with a win over Army in 1981.
MU is 306-94 at the Henderson Center. Marshall is
The Herd has not appeared in the rankings since 1971-72, when the team started at No. 20 in the then Top 20 poll on Dec. 21, 1971. Marshall moved to No. 13 on Jan. 4, 1972, No. 11 on Feb. 1, No. 10 on Feb. 15 and reached its highest ranking on Feb. 22 at No. 8 in the nation.
In the final poll, Marshall was No. 12, released on March 14, after falling to No. 9 on Feb. 29 and No. 10 again on March 7.
The Herd received two votes for its 15-2 start, best since that 1971-72 team went 23-2 to open the season. MU is also 4-0 in Conference USA for the first time, tied for first place with Tulsa.
Marshall has not been 4-0 in league play since opening Southern Conference play 4-0 under Coach Greg White in 1996-97, the Herd's last year in the SC before joining the MAC in 1997. MU has been a member of C-USA since 2005.
Marshall was also ranked on the poll released on Jan. 31, 1956, when the Herd dropped into the poll for one week at No. 18 on its way to the Mid-American Conference championship and a first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Marshall fell to Morehead State in that first tournament game, as Charlie Slack was ruled ineligible due to playing as a freshman when the Herd was still a member of the Ohio Valley Conference and the NAIB (today's NAIA).
Marshall football was ranked No. 21 for the first time in 1999 on Sept. 19. The Herd steadily climbed in what was a 13-0 season, ending in a MAC championship and Motor City Bowl win over No. 25 BYU.
The Herd finished a MAC-tying best No. 10 in the nation in the final poll on Jan. 5, 2000.
Football also appeared in the poll in 2001, starting at No. 24 on Nov. 11 and finishing at No. 20 on Nov. 25 before dropping out with votes on Dec. 2.
In 2002, Marshall was pre-season ranked in football at No. 19, climbed to No. 16 for two weeks on Sept. 2 and received votes and dropped out of the Top 25 on Sept. 15. The Herd climbed back into the final poll with an 11-2 finish, a MAC title and GMAC Bowl win over Louisville to finish No. 24 in the final poll on Jan. 4, 2003.
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| Last Updated on Thursday, 21 January 2010 22:14 |