Herd falls to UAB, drops third straight

The Thundering Herd returned home Wednesday in hopes of breaking a two-game losing streak, but the University of Alabama proved to be too tough as the Blazers shut down Marshall in the second and extended the Herd's losing streak to three.

UAB won the contest 56-49.

Midway through the second half, Marshall went cold from the field and went nearly nine minutes without hitting a shot from the field. The Blazers used that stretch to go on a 14-3 run, building a ten-point lead, which proved to be too much for the Herd to overcome.

"We knew these guys were going to come in wanting revenge," said junior forward Dennis Tinnon. "We needed to come out strong, and I guess they just wanted it more than we did and played harder."

Marshall shot just 35 percent from the field and a dismal 21 percent from beyond the arc en route to scoring its lowest point total to date this season. DeAndre Kane led the way for Marshall, scoring 12 points to go along with seven assists and six boards.

"Our offense let us down mightily, and tonight was a prime example of that," said Marshall head coach Tom Herrion.  "We were inept offensively. We left too many points at the foul line and couldn't make an open shot, plain and simple."

The loss is Marshall's third straight overall and its second in conference play, moving the Herd to 13-7 (4-2).

Coach Herrion said, unlike recent losses, defense was not an issue Wednesday.

"Our defense was fine, especially in the second half," Herrion said. "But you put so much pressure on your defense every time down it's hard to play against these really good teams."

The victory moves UAB to 7-12 overall and 2-4 in conference play and Blazer head coach Mike Davis said this is his team's biggest win of the season. He also said it was possible in part due to the Herd fans.

"I was really happy to see the crowd not show up, because I know how loud they can be," Davis said. "I think that really helped our players not coming into a packed house."

Marshall will look to end its current three-game losing streak when it returns to the road Saturday against  the University of Memphis. The Herd will be taking on a Memphis team that has won two straight games.