2007 C-USA Basketball Tournament Recap: #8 Marshall 53 - #9 UAB 52

Thundering Herd Holds On To Nip Blazers

Marshall relinquished its 14-point halftime lead, but Markell Humphrey put in an easy lay-up with 24 seconds in the game to allow the Thundering Herd to pull out a 53-52 victory over UAB.

MU (13-17, 8-9) advances to the quarterfinals where it will be rewarded with a match-up against top-seeded Memphis. The Tigers have won 29 straight games at the FedExForum.

Marshall dominated the Blazers in the first half and led 38-24 at the break.

The Thundering Herd went extremely cold in the second half, as they were only able to knock down five shots while scoring 15 points after intermission.

Memphis' Fed Ex Forum is the host to the 2007 Conference USA Men's Basketball Championship which began on Wednesday.

This left the door wide open for UAB to get back into what seemed to be a blowout going into the locker room at the half. Blazers’ Head Coach Mike Davis was very disheartened by the loss, especially given how cold the Thundering Herd went.

“It’s really frustrating, very very frustrating to be in this situation.” UAB head coach Mike Davis said after the loss.

With 5:08 left in the game, Marshall held an 8-point lead after Markel Humphrey hit a jumper to put Marshall up 51-43.

UAB went on a run that was concluded by a Paul Delaney lay-up that gave UAB a one-point lead with 29 seconds in the game.

Marshall pushed it up the court and Markel Humphrey’s lay-up put the Thundering Herd back on top at 53-52.

Mike Davis Jr.’s jumper would not fall and UAB put Marshall’s Mark Dorris on the line. He missed the front end of a one and one, giving the Blazers one last shot.

After UAB called a timeout with two seconds remaining, Paul Delaney’s 12-foot jumper rimmed out and Marshall was victorious.

Ron Jirsa’s team must now regroup in a hurry, as they play #1 seed Memphis tomorrow night.

Nada
Marshall missed all nine three-pointers in the second half, finishing the game at 3-of-15 from behind the arc.

Déjà vu?
Marshall hopes not, as it lost its earlier contest versus Memphis by 19. The Tigers blocked 11 of the Thundering Herd’s shot attempts in that game.

Blazers’ Season Extinguished
The Blazers end their roller coaster of a season with a 15-16 record and will miss the postseason in its first season under Coach Mike Davis. They nearly knocked off top-ranked Florida, but lost in the final minute after leading for the majority of the game.