Has anybody wondered what became of Darnell Dodson? You remembering him don't you? Could shoot the lights out of the building, except against West Virginia in 2010. You also, may remember he had a penchant for getting into a little mischief, and and spent some time to reflect on the concrete bedding of Lexington-Fayette's holding cells.
You could also be privy to the former in-coming transfer to Kentucky's, decision to land in Hattiesburg, becoming a Golden Eagle. You then may remember his dismissal from that team, then his being welcomed back into the Southern Mississippi nest.
Which brings us to yesterday. Darnell Dodson, who is coming off the bench as an offensive spark for So. Miss(where have we seen this before?), was on the television's of area hoops fan's once again, when his new pals of USM played host to Marshall yesterday on WSAZ.
Maybe we shouldn't have led in with Darnell. He didn't really do much on the spectacular level such an introduction would seem to warrant. He was familiar, we knew of him. To be honest, other than the former Cat, we didn't really know anybody in a Southern Miss uniform.
One thing is for sure, we are now full aware at the threat to the top of C-USA that USM is. So is Marshall.
Sophomore guard Neil Watson introduced himself to us via his 18 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals, and being a perfect 6 for 6 at the free throw line(90% on the season) to led So. Miss over Marshall, and to give the Herd their first CUSA blemish on the season, 67-63.
However it wasn't necessarily Watson and company who was Marshall's biggest foe that afternoon. That honor goes to the Herd, themselves.
Marshall allowed themselves to get behind early, and continuing to turn the ball over did not help their cause. Marshall turned the ball over 11 times, with 5 of those belonging to DeAndre Kane. Kane was relegated to coming off the bench for the Herd, which was a decision to not start him made by Coach Tom Herrion. Kane did respond to that decision by scoring 21 points in the Big Green's cause. But Marshall got too behind and would have to play catch-up for the remainder of the game. Not a good idea to do in league play on the road.
Marshall did battle back though. Being down 42-30 at the half, Marshall outscored the Eagles in the second half. However, Marshall was hardly playing smart basketball. Making bad decisions on offense and not taking care of the ball, and just coming out totally flat ,simply proved to be too much.
Shaq Johnson and Donnie Tinnon got the Herd back into the game with back-to back scores, cutting the lead to 5 with about 7 minutes to play.
After a USM score, Kane made good on a 'old-fashioned' 3 point play, and kept Marshall within striking distance at 58-54. So.Miss would score again, and it was answered by a little bit of spurt by Marshall, with
Johnson and Kane both connecting from long-range, once again giving the Herd some hope in the final two minutes of the game, trailing 64-60. Then, one of the nation's leading rebounders, Tinnon, connected with a 3 of his own bringing the game to only being a one point advantage for the Golden Eagles with less than a minute to play.
However, Watson would take matters into his own hands. Having seen the double-digit lead dwindle down to just one, Watson hit a big 3 of his own, Putting his team up by 4 with only 17 seconds left to play.
That would be the last little edge the better -than- expected Southern Mississippi would need to close it out, and finally put the Marshall fire out.
On the stat sheet, Marshall once again won the rebounding war, something that this team may do better than any other team in the nation.
So, Marshall come out sluggish, and out of sorts, and no matter thier efforts in the 2nd half, could not overcome their miserable start in this one. Like we said, you can't do that on the road in league play.
It's only fitting we give you Dodson's stat line: He tallied 16 minutes, missed both his 3-point attempts, and finished with 7 points on 2-7 shooting (3-3 from the line).
Oh and Jonathan Mills looks like XZIBIT...he also has one of the more ridiculous hair-cuts we have seen.
Marshall 30 33 63
Southern Miss 42 25 67
Top Individual Performances
Marshall: D. Kane 21 Pts, 4 Reb, 4 Ast
Southern Miss: N. Watson 18 Pts, 3 Reb, 5 Ast, 2 St
Marshall(13-6,4-1) tries to right the ship after dropping two games in a row (WVU and So. Miss) Wednesday when they play host to UAB(6-12,1-4) at the Henderson Center.
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