Published: January 13, 2009 12:00 am      

MU’s Lutz looking to shake out of slump

If history is any indication, Charleston is no place for Chris Lutz to snap out of his shooting slump.

Through his first eight games, Lutz was Marshall’s top three-point threat. But that aspect of his game has disappeared over the Thundering Herd’s last three outings.

Lutz’s woes continued Saturday against East Carolina. Things were so bad that the Purdue transfer played only 18 minutes and was held to two points on 1-of-3 shooting.

The Herd (8-7) did beat ECU 72-64, but it is obvious Lutz is struggling.

His two-point game followed a scoreless night at Memphis. It’s no coincidence that Marshall and Purdue have won just one time in the combined seven times Lutz has no scored.

He is a combined 0-for-10 behind the three-point line the last three games. He had been 20-of-37 (54.1 percent) before that time.

Lutz has seen his scoring average dip to 9.1 points per game and he has played a combined 44 minutes the last two outings despite starting both.

He will try to get back on track Wednesday when Marshall takes on in-state rival West Virginia (11-4) in the annual Capital Classic at the Charleston Civic Center Coliseum.

That may not be a good thing.

Marshall has not shot well in the series of late, including last year’s 66-64 loss in the Classic coaching debuts of Donnie Jones and WVU’s Bob Huggins. The Herd shot just 31.3 percent in the first half in falling behind 37-27. They rallied in the second half but still finished 35.2 percent for the game.

— E-mail: gfauber@

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