By The Associated Press
HUNTINGTON — Tyler Wilkerson grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds to lead Marshall to a 79-63 win over North Carolina A&T; on Sunday in the Thundering Herd’s season opener.
Wilkerson, who pulled down 14 defensive boards, had the most rebounds by a Marshall player since Rodney Holden grabbed 20 against The Citadel on Jan. 18, 1986. Marshall outrebounded the Aggies 50-39.
“We’re excited about today’s victory,” Marshall head coach Donnie Jones said. “North Carolina A&T; is a very good basketball team. They came in here and as you can see, they are a terrific three point shooting team, which makes them dangerous. That’s why they always say the three-point line is the great equalizer of college basketball as you can see tonight in the first half it was. One thing we did in the second half that I was really proud of is we held North Carolina (A&T;) to 1 of 11 from the three-point line, which was the big difference of the game.”
The Herd’s Shaquille Johnson tied his career high with 22 points on 8 for 11 shooting in the Global Sports Invitational.
Point guard Darryl Merthie had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
“Darryl just kept feeding me,” Johnson said. “Darryl, Chris Lutz and Tyler kicked it out, and they just kept penetrating and finding the open man. I happened to be the open man and knocked it down.”
Marshall, which played North Carolina A&T; (1-1) for the first time since 1973, led 38-33 at halftime and 48-43 with 15:43 left. The Thundering Herd then used an 18-5 run, sparked by eight points from Hassan Whiteside and two 3-pointers by Camden Miller, to lead 66-48 with 8:32 left.
Robert Johnson paced the Aggies with 16 points. Thomas Coleman added 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Marshall hosts Middle Tennessee State at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
MARSHALL 79, N. CAROLINA A&T; 63
N. CAROLINA A&T; (1-1)
Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Alston 2-10 8-9 12, Simpson 4-9 2-2 12, Coleman 4-10 2-5 10, Johnson 6-14 0-0 16, Hill 0-5 0-0 0, Williams 0-2 1-2 1, Witter 2-6 0-0 5, Upchurch 0-2 5-6 5, Porter 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 19-61 18-25 63.
MARSHALL (1-0)
Merthie 5-14 2-3 14, Lutz 1-10 0-0 3, Johnson 8-11 5-6 22, Baines 4-5 0-0 8, Wilkerson 1-7 6-6 8, Haymon 1-5 1-1 3, Miller 3-9 0-1 9, Pena 0-1 0-0 0, Whiteside 4-4 2-4 10, Spikes 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 28-67 16-22 79.
Halftime—Marshall 38-33. 3-Point Goals—N. Carolina A&T; 7-30 (Johnson 4-9, Simpson 2-7, Witter 1-3, Upchurch 0-1, Williams 0-1, Hill 0-4, Alston 0-5), Marshall 7-26 (Miller 3-8, Merthie 2-4, Johnson 1-2, Lutz 1-8, Haymon 0-1, Pena 0-1, Wilkerson 0-2). Fouled Out—Porter. Rebounds—N. Carolina A&T; 39 (Coleman 13), Marshall 50 (Wilkerson 20). Assists—N. Carolina A&T; 11 (Alston 4), Marshall 19 (Merthie 7). Total Fouls—N. Carolina A&T; 23, Marshall 18. A—4,319.
