Whiteside’s Third Triple-Double Leads Marshall Past UCF 121-115 In Triple Overtime
Whiteside Becomes Marshall’s All-Time Leading Shot Blocker
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Huntington, WV (HNN) — Freshman Hassan Whiteside recorded his third triple-double of the season as Marshall University (22-7, 10-4 C-USA) defeated UCF (13-15, 5-9 C-USA) 121-115 in Conference USA men’s basketball action in the Henderson Center.
Whiteside, the Herd’s 7-0 post sensation, became the school’s all-time leading shot blocker as he had 13 blocks to go along with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Whiteside has blocked 159 shots in 29 games this season, breaking the old Marshall record of 148 which was set by Omar Roland from 1988-90.
The Thundering Herd led by 17 at halftime before the Knight mounted a comeback that was capped off by an Isaac Sosa three-pointer with two seconds remaining in regulation that tied the game at 79. Marshall took an 87-85 lead with 1:28 to go in the first overtime, but A.J. Tyler made a pair of free throw attempts to knot the game up 87-87. Tyler fouled Tirrell Baines with 40 seconds remaining, but Baines missed both free throw attempts. A Marcus Jordan turnover with six seconds left game the Herd a chance, but an MU turnover sent the game into a second overtime.
UCF held a four-point lead on three separate occasions in the second overtime. With 20 seconds remaining and the Knights leading 99-96, Damier Pitts was fouled. The Thundering Herd point guard made both attempts for a 99-98 UCF advantage. R.J. Scott scored the next time down for the Knights. With 11 seconds remaining, Marshall called a timeout. Electing to go for the two, Pitts drove the lane and was fouled. An 81% free throw shooter, Pitts made his first attempt, but missed the second. Dago Pena grabbed the offensive rebound and tied the game 101-101 with a putback. A.J. Rompza’s field goal attempt with two seconds left fell short, sending the game into triple overtime.
Marshall opened the third overtime on a 10-3 run that was capped off by a Pena dunk which gave MU a 112-104 advantage. Marshall would led by as much as 11 in the final OT, but UCF closed to within four when R.J Scott connected on a three-point field goal with 32 seconds remaining. Pitts would make four free throws in the final 30 seconds of the game as Marshall would take home the victory after over three hours of play, 121-115.
Marshall broke the school and Conference USA records for most free throws made and attempted in a game as the Herd were 43-of-67 from the charity stripe. The old Marshall record was 40-for-55 against Kent State Jan. 28,1956. The old C-USA mark was Cincinnati going 42-of-58 against Louisville Feb. 22, 2003. The 121 Herd points is the most by a Conference USA team in a league game. The old record was 117 set by USF against TCU on Jan. 5, 2002. Lutz led all scorers with 25 points. He was 6-of-11 from three-point range, playing 50 of possible 55 minutes. Pena reset his career high with 20 points. The 6-6 wing player was 7-of-8 from the field. Pitts was 15-of-18 from the free throw line (the third most made and third most attempted in school history) as he scored 19 points. Baines posted 15 while Shaquille Johnson had 13 points and seven rebounds.
UCF, which had six players foul out of the game, had five cagers score in double figures. The Knights were paced by Tyler Young who scored 23. Keith Clanton and Sosa each tallied 20 while Jordan scored 18. A.J Tyler recorded 12. Rompza dished out a game high 13 assists.
"I don't know where to begin, as there were so many things to talk about,” said Marshall head coach Donnie Jones. “We had so many great individual efforts tonight. Dago Pena is the first thing that comes to mind just based on him making the big play down the stretch, making big shots, big rebounds and big dunks. I am really proud of our team. If you told me Tyler Wilkerson would only play 19 minutes and we would go to triple overtime, I would have told you it would be very tough to win, but give UCF credit, they played very well. They fought, being down 17, they continued to hit big shot after big shot. This is a night where the three-point line is so valuable and we have done a pretty good job guarding it, but they made some big shots. But we grinded this win out tonight. I am happy for the victory. The crowd was phenomenal and gave our kids energy down the stretch. I hope they come out on Tuesday for our three seniors because they deserve it."
Marshall hosts senior night in their final regular season home game Tuesday against No. 25 UTEP. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. (EST).
NOTES
This was only the second triple overtime game in school history as Bowling Green defeated Marshall 88-85 in triple OT Feb. 7, 1959…The 121 points were the ninth most scored in a game by a Marshall team…UCF became the first MU opponent since 2002 (Morehead State, 101) to score at least 100 points against Marshall…This was the sixth time this season Marshall has scored at least 100 points, marking the 145th time the Herd have scored at least 100 points in a game…Whiteside’s 13 blocks are a Henderson Center record, breaking his old mark of 11 which he set earlier this season against Brescia…Whiteside’s 159 blocks are the 16th most in a season by a Division I player…Rompza played a game high 51 minutes before fouling out…Eight players between the two teams saw at least 40 minutes of action.