Conference USA Basketball

And the Thunder rolls. Marshall showed little fatigue after its triple-overtime, marathon  Wednesday and advanced to the Conference USA tournament finals with a big win over No. 2 seed Southern Mississippi, 73-62.

On a day the Thundering Herd's dominant rebounding ability was thwarted by the Golden Eagles, the Herd made up for it by shooting better than 50 percent from the field and 9-for-17 from beyond the arc. Even more importantly, the Herd had one of their best free-throw shooting performances of the year. 

Senior point guard Damier Pitts was the star for Marshall and finished the game with 24 points on 7-for-12 shooting and five rebounds. Pitts proved clutch for the Herd by going 6-for-6 from the foul line. 

DeAndre Kane—who played in 54 of 55 minutes during the triple-overtime slugfest with Tulsa—finished with 14 points and seven assists. 

Dennis Tinnon—himself having played in 50 of the 55 minutes in the previous day's game—pulled down 13 rebounds to go with 10 points.

The Golden Eagles of Southern Mississippi beat the Thundering Herd on rebounds, 35-34, but throughout the game the bigs of Marshall—Tinnon, Goff and Spikes—proved capable of blocking and altering shots that were taken in the painted area.

The points scored off 16 Herd turnovers were one of the few statistical highlights for Southern Miss and kept the game close, even though it shot 34 percent from the field, 22 percent from the three-point line and 57 percent from the charity stripe.

Angelo Johnson led Southern Miss with 24 points off 11-for-17 shooting from the field. Many of his points came in the paint after using his quickness to get around the defense of Damier Pitts, who was nursing a sore knee.

Kentucky transfer Darnell Dodson contributed in a big way off the bench with 13 points and six rebounds.

Jonathan Mills—junior forward out of Chicago—was scoreless for Southern Miss after going for 17 against the Thundering Herd in the regular-season finale. The best interior player for the Golden Eagles was ineffective after picking up an injury to his arm that kept him out of the game for all but 16 minutes.

This was the first time in the Conference USA semifinals. They will play the winner of the second semifinal match between Memphis and Central Florida. 

The Thundering Herd almost certainly need a win in the conference tournament final if they hope to secure a spot in the NCAA tournament. Anything less than the automatic berth awarded through a conference title might relegate Marshall to the NIT.

DeAndre Kane is most definitely able.

The sophomore star for Marshall finished with a Conference USA tournament record 40 points along with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, as the Thundering Herd were able to outlast the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in a triple-overtime marathon 105-101.

This was nothing short of a war of attrition between the sixth-seeded Herd and the third-seeded Golden Hurricane. The 55 minutes of game time featured a total of 21 ties and 19 lead changes.

It was not until the 2:54 mark of the third extra period, when freshman Chris Martin nailed a big three-pointer and put the Herd up one, that the game looked to close in Marshall's favor.

Tulsa regained the lead momentarily on two free throws by Jordan Clarkson, but on the next trip down the court Dago Pena gave Marshall its final lead with a pull-up three-pointer, and drew a foul. The four-point play put Marshall up three and the lead was never relinquished. 

By the time the game entered the second overtime period, both teams were suffering with heavy casualties. Marshall was forced to rely heavily on bench players Jamir Hanner and Chris Martin in the final periods after five players—Damier Pitts, Shaquille Johnson, Robert Goff, Nigel Spikes and Yous Mbao—all fouled out.

Tulsa did not fare much better with four players fouling out of the game.

Kane nearly went the entire distance and finished the game having played 54 out of a total 55 available minutes. Dennis Tinnon—who finished with 14 points on 7-for-11 shooting and 12 rebounds—was not far behind with 50 minutes on the floor. 

Marshall dominated the boards yet again—a trend that has made the Herd the No. 8 rebounding team in the entire country—finishing with a +8 rebounding margin 41-33.

This advantage on the glass allowed for Marshall to completely overpower third-seeded Tulsa with 16 second chance opportunities and 56 points in the paint compared to 28 from the Golden Hurricane.

Both teams were effective converting turnovers into baskets, but it was a big steal by DeAndre Kane at the end of the second overtime that kept the contest going one more period, and allowed the Herd to finally close out the game.

Marshall will go on to play Southern Mississippi on Friday in a rematch of the regular season finale for both teams.

Marshall won that meeting in Huntington. Earlier in the season, Southern Miss won their first meeting in Hattiesburg. This semifinal match will be a true rubber match between the two schools, a neutral court rubber match.

The Conference USA Tournament should be referred to as Bubble Watch, because we will see a great many of them pop this week. 

Memphis is safe and Southern Miss should be just fine on Selection Sunday, but that leaves 10 teams that are placing every last hope they have in the season in this tourney. 

The greatest aspect of this time of year is all the young athletes laying it all on the line. the Conference USA Tourney will have these teams double their efforts for the chance to get to the big dance. 

Here is all the information you need on an underrated good time. 

Full Schedule (via official website, all times ET)

All dates and times can be found at Conference USA's official website

Odds

The odds are in and here is how Vegas has this tournament stacked up currently. All odds according to Bovada.lv. The corresponding number is the seed going into the tournament. 

Prediction

Memphis over Tulsa

Memphis is by far the strongest and deepest team headed into the tournament. The only thing that could provide an upset is a Memphis team resting on their laurels after securing a win. 

I don't see this hungry squad taking anything for granted, and should win out in this topsy-turvy tourney. 

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Marshall sophomore DeAndre Kane snagged second team All-Conference honors on Monday, while senior Damier Pitts found himself on the All-Conference USA third team.

The second team placing by Kane goes with a third team honor he was awarded as a freshman in 2011. He is the first player from Marshall to make the All-Conference USA second team since 2010 when Hassan Whiteside and Tyler Wilkerson were both named to the second team.

Kane finished the regular season fourth in the conference in scoring with 15.8 points per game and 17th in the conference rebounding with 5.5 a game. He also finished in the top 15 in the conference in assists, steals, offensive rebounding and assist-to-turnover ratio.

Damier Pitts finishes his career with the Thundering Herd with his first All-Conference selection. His 4.4 assists per game placed him in the top four of Conference USA, and his 14.4 points per game was good for 10th in the conference. Pitts also finished in the top 10 in three-point field goals made, three-point field goal percentage and minutes played.

Kane and Pitts will lead Marshall against Southern Methodist in the first round of the Conference USA tournament on Wednesday.

2011-12 ALL-CONFERENCE USA FIRST TEAM

Will Barton, Memphis
Keith Clanton, UCF
Jordan Clarkson, Tulsa
Cameron Moore, UAB
Ricky Tarrant, Tulane

2011-12 ALL-CONFERENCE USA SECOND TEAM

Tarik Black, Memphis
DeAndre Kane, Marshall
Arsalan Kazemi, Rice
Miguel Paul, East Carolina
Neil Watson, Southern Miss

2011-12 ALL-CONFERENCE USA THIRD TEAM

Chris Crawford, Memphis
Jonathan Mills, Southern Miss
Darrius Morrow, East Carolina
Robert Nyakundi, SMU
Damier Pitts, Marshall

There's a lot at stake in the Conference USA tournament.

Of the teams in C-USA, only Memphis appears to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament. Southern Miss stands a chance of earning an at-large bid, but that's something that could very well change if the Golden Eagles fall short in the conference tournament. Every other team in the tourney will be looking to win the whole thing to earn a bid to go to the Big Dance.

So despite the fact C-USA is a little lower on the college basketball totem pole, you can expect these tourney games to be hotly contested. It should be fun.

If you're looking to watch, here's a rundown of everything you need to know.

Bracket, Dates, Start Time and TV Schedule

All of this comes courtesy of Conference USA's official website, so I'm assuming it's all 100 percent accurate. All times are Eastern, and all games will be played at FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee.

What They're Saying

Steve Irvine of The Birmingham News wondered aloud if there's any reason to believe Memphis won't win the C-USA tournament. However, he did admit that Memphis is not perfect.

Here's what Irvine wrote:

So is there any reason to believe that the Tigers won't cruise through the field in what was known in the past as the "Memphis Invita­tional"?

At this point, it's hard to imagine anyone knocking off the regular season champion Tigers unless you look at the whole picture. After all, this is the same Mem­phis team that was 6-5 after a Dec. 22 loss at George­town.

Memphis has won the C-USA tournament five of the past six years. This year's team definitely looks like the strongest team in the field once again.

Teams With Most to Gain: UCF, Tulsa

Obviously, every team in the Conference-USA tournament stands to gain quite a bit by winning the whole thing, so I could mention every team in the field here.

But specifically, I have to go with UCF and Tulsa here. Both teams finished the season with mediocre stretches of play, all but taking themselves out of tournament consideration. They're heading into the conference tourney with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Winning it all is the easiest way into the tournament, but it's conceivable that either UCF or Tulsa will be able to grab an at-large bid after their work in the conference tournament.

Team With Most to Lose: Southern Miss

Southern Miss didn't do itself any favors with its loss at Marshall in the regular season finale for both teams. The Golden Eagles need a good showing in the C-USA tournament to redeem themselves, and the only way they're going to be a lock for the tournament is if they win the conference tourney.

A loss in the second round of the conference tournament would be devastating. It's hard to imagine Southern Miss getting in after a loss to Rice or ECU.

Prediction: Memphis

This tournament is the Tigers' to lose. They were the most dominant team in C-USA this season, and they represent a matchup problem for every team in the field. Their offensive efficiency is uncanny.

Plus, having the home-court advantage will definitely help.

If you are a fan of a team on the bubble then Conference USA tournament is must-see TV.

The Memphis Tigers (23-8, 13-3 C-USA, 18 RPI) and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (22-7, 11-5, 17 RPI) are the only teams guaranteed a spot in the big dance. Every other team enters the conference tournament at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn looking to salvage their disappointing seasons.

That means there will be 10 teams prepared to fight to the death for the opportunity to put on their dancing shoes.

From Wednesday’s opening round to Saturday’s championship, the intensity and pressure is going to be heavy.

Who can handle it?

Wednesday, March 7

(7) Rice vs. (10) East Carolina (CSS Sports) 1:00 p.m

(6) Marshall vs. (11) SMU (CSS Sports) 3:30 p.m

(8) UTEP vs. (9) Houston (CSS Sports) 7:30 p.m

(5) UAB vs. (12) Tulane (CSS Sports) 10:00 p.m

Live streaming available via ConferenceUSA.com

We can call today desperation Wednesday as these eight teams are going to do whatever it takes for the right to advance. Any sort of postseason game is unlikely unless one of these teams gets red-hot. 

Thursday, March 8

(2) Southern Miss vs. Rice/ECU (CBS Sports Network) 1:00 p.m

(3) Tulsa vs. Marshall/SMU (CBS Sports Network) 3:30 p.m

(1) Memphis vs. UTEP/HOU (CBS Sports Network) 7:30 p.m

(4) UCF vs. UAB/Tulane (CBS Sports Network) 10:00 p.m

Live streaming available via ConferenceUSA.com

The second-round is going to be the first opportunity for a major upset. No. 2 Southern Miss is ripe for the taking with the early start time against a potentially dangerous Rice team. Remember, the Golden Eagles do possess two losses against teams with an RPI of 150 or worse.

Friday, March 9

Semifinal # 1 (CBS Sports Network) 4:00 p.m

Semifinal # 2 (CBS Sports Network) 6:30 p.m

Live streaming available via ConferenceUSA.com

The semis are a spot where Memphis could relax. They already won a game, and are feeling comfortable heading into selection Sunday. Playing against a team with all hands on deck, don't be shocked to see the Tigers bow out in the second semifinal game of the night. 

Saturday, March 10 Championship Game (CBS) - 11:35 a.m

Winner qualifies for 2012 NCAA tournament 

(Click here for full bracket)

Follow @BigLeagueEball

Junior Dennis Tinnon's powerful performance helped send the Marshall senior class off in style, as they took down Southern Mississippi Saturday afternoon with a 79-75 win. That victory ended their regular season on a high note and provides some much needed momentum heading into the Conference USA tournament.

Tinnon led all scorers with 22 points—the second 20 point game of his career—on 8-for-11 shooting, he also came only one rebound short of a double-double. 

All of Marshall's senior class finished their final game at the Cam Henderson Center in double figures—Damier Pitts and Shaquille Johnson had 13 apiece and Dago Pena contributed 10. Pitts started the game 6-for-6 from the field and finished the half 6-for-8, scoring all of his points before the break. 

The Thundering Herd came into the game on a two game losing streak after falling to Memphis the previous Saturday and to East Carolina in overtime on Wednesday night.

A loss to the Southern Mississippi—who sat at second in the Conference USA standings—would have been the punctuation mark on a disappointing season that carried the promise of a conference championship and NCAA tournament berth at the start of the season.

Instead of rolling over, however, Marshall traded blows back and forth with the Golden Eagles. The 10 ties and 10 lead changes are testament to the seesaw nature of the game.

In a game that in many ways came down to free throw shooting, the Herd managed to nail nearly 69 percent of their free throws—a major accomplishment for a team that averages right at 60 percent. Southern Miss struggled mightily shooting 54 percent on 14-for-26 from the line.

Southern Mississippi forward Jonathan Mills led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 17 points while shooting 70 percent (7-for-10) from the painted area. His struggles from the free throw line (3-for-8), on more than one occasion, prematurely cut off potential Golden Eagle runs. 

Although the game was decided near the end on key free throw shooting, the real story of the game was the dominance of the Thundering Herd in the paint. Marshall outscored Southern Mississippi in the paint 40-24 and bullied them on the rebounds with a 44-36 advantage. The plus eight rebounding margin went right along with the Herd's season average of  plus 7.7.

The win brings Marshall's record to 18-12 on the season and 9-7 in Conference USA—their third straight winning record in conference play—and puts them as the sixth seed in the upcoming conference tournament. They will play the 11th-seeded Southern Methodist University on Wednesday.

Southern Mississippi's hopes of a share of the conference regular season title were cut short when Memphis beat Tulsa prior to tip-off. The loss to Marshall finishes their regular season with a 24-5 record and 11-5 in Conference USA. Their second place finish in the league gives them an automatic bye in the conference tournament. They will face the winner of No. 7 seed Rice and No. 10 seed East Carolina on Thursday.

The Marshall Thundering Herd will not be going into Senior Night at the Cam Henderson Center Saturday on a high note.

The East Carolina Pirates capitalized on mistakes by scoring 24 points off of 20 Herd turnovers as they went on to win 69-68 in overtime on Senior Night in Greenville, N.C.. 

Darrius Morrow—the only senior on the Pirates—led his team with 27 points on 8-for-16 shooting and 11-for-17 from the free throw line to go with eight rebounds. 

Damier Pitts and DeAndre Kane—who fouled out for the third time this season—both scored 17 points for the Herd.

Dennis Tinnon nearly had himself another double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds. 

The Herd were down 63-61 with just over a minute left when Kane stole a pass and dished aheadto Shaquille Johnson for the layup. That would be the final scoring possession in regulation. 

It was apparent that by the time overtime had come, both teams were spent physically.

All of ECU's points in overtime came from the free-throw line, while Marshall was 1-for-11 from the field in the extra period. 

The 20 turnovers from the Herd completely negated the +15 rebounding margin the Herd had amassed. 

"Give East Carolina credit," Marshall head coach Tom Herrion said. "But I'm really disappointed with us. Twenty turnovers out of nowhere and we've been the third-best team in the conference taking care of the ball. We contributed mightily to the loss. This is a disappointing loss for us."

The Herd has now lost 87% of their games this season when converting 10 or fewer free throws in a game. They finished 10-of-17 for 58% in another poor outing from the charity stripe.

This marks the third time this season that the Thundering Herd have led at halftime only to lose the game.

The loss was the Herd's second straight and drops them into a tie for sixth in Conference USA with Rice. They currently sit at 17-12 on the season and 8-7 in conference play.

East Carolina improves to 13-15 on the season and 4-11 in Conference USA, good for tenth in the league standings.

Marshall looks to end its season on a high note with Senior Night in the Cam Henderson Center on Saturday against Southern Mississippi, before traveling to Memphis for the Conference USA tournament.

Marshall would have to win the tournament outright if they are to make good on preseason expectations of the NCAA Tournament. 

Huntington, WV—In another tale of two halves, the Thundering Herd of Marshall University collapsed after the break, and the Memphis Tigers cruised to an 87-67 victory.

What started out as two teams going back and forth pounding the paint in the first half turned into an ugly loss as the Herd racked up a flagrant and three technical fouls.

Will Barton of Memphis scored 24 points on 9-for-18 shooting to go along with a career high 26 points against Marshall during their previous game this season on January 28th. 

Tarik Black was perfect from the field (8-for-8) on his way to 18 points—all but his two free throws coming by way of easy layups and dunks.

DeAndre Kane led the Herd with 16 points but struggled the entire game shooting—5-for-19 from the field, 2-for-6 from three-point land, and 4-for-11 from the free throw line.

Dennis Tinnon recorded the 15th double digit rebounding game of his career with ten rebounds to go with his 16 points—his third straight game with ten or more points. The double-double was the ninth of his career.

Tigers player Joe Jackson recorded a career high 13 made free throws as part of his 21 points—the seventh 20-point game of his career.

For the second straight meeting, the Memphis Tigers were able to negate Marshall's ability to rebound the ball. In the first matchup, Marshall struggled on the boards due to foul trouble from the likes of Dennis Tinnon, Robert Goff and DeAndre Kane, limiting the playing time of the team's best ball-getters.

This time around the Memphis Tigers limited the Herd's opportunities on the boards by shooting 60 percent from the field. Marshall finished with a +3 rebounding margin—down from their season average margin of +7.6.

Marshall was unable to keep up their good shooting after the break—51.7 percent on 15-for-29 shooting in the first half—going only 9-for-31 in the second half.

The highlight—or lowlight—of the game came early in the second half when DeAndre Kane fouled Memphis's Joe Jackson hard as the Tigers player drove on a fast break—assessed as a flagrant foul. Two other Memphis Tigers began to crowd Kane on the baseline and the two teams came together for an extended round of pushing and shoving.

Both Marshall head coach Tom Herrion and Memphis' Josh Pastner came out to try and separate the two squads. In what was the most bizarre moment of the fracas, a family member of a Memphis Tiger player—reportedly the father of Joe Jackson—came down from his seat in the visitor section and got into a brief altercation with a member of the Memphis staff.

From that point it appeared that Marshall was never the same mentally. They were never able to match the intensity that Memphis brought on both the defensive and offensive sides of the floor. Technical fouls were called on Herd players Kane (2) and Damier Pitts—mostly as a result of barking at the refs.

The Memphis Tigers dominated in the paint, scoring 52 of their 87 points within the painted area—in fact, all but two of the Tigers 87 points came from the lane, the three point line or the free throw line. The Tigers also used their speed and athleticism on the way to 18 fast-break points. 

Marshall falls to 17-11 on the season and 8-6 in Conference USA play. Memphis keeps a grip on their place atop the Conference USA standings. Their record is now 21-8 and 11-3 in conference.

Marshall finishes up the season on the road Wednesday against East Carolina University and Southern Mississippi at home Saturday.

Memphis looks to avenge their prior loss to Central Florida at home on Tuesday and finish up the regular season on the road against Tulsa on Saturday.

Saturday marks the biggest game of the season for the Marshall Thundering Herd as the Memphis Tigers come into the Cam Henderson Center.

The Herd still have a remote shot at winning the Conference USA regular season title and a home win against Memphis will certainly shake up the conference leader board.

The January 28th game in Memphis was close the entire way. Marshall has the talent and the ability, but it needs to put the pieces together in a big way if they want to come out of the Cam with their fourth straight win.

Rebounding

For fans of the Thundering Herd, this should be a no-brainer. Marshall currently sits at seventh in the nation in rebounds per game at 40 RPG whereas the Memphis Tigers average 34.6 RPG.

Marshall averages a +7.6 rebounding margin this season, but during the January 28th meeting the Tigers actually outrebounded the Herd by two, and held them to nine less rebounds than their season average.

Offensive rebounding rate is an important factor in deciding a game—so important that it is considered one of the Four Factors of Winning according to StatSheet.com:

Offensive Rebounding indicates a team's ability to get second chance shots, which dramatically improves efficiency.  This is measured by offensive rebounding percentage (OR%). OR% = Offensive Rebounds / (Offensive Rebounds + Opponent Defensive Rebounds).

This is where Marshall shines versus the competition but where they also failed in their head-to-head matchup against the Tigers earlier in the season. When you lose the offensive rebounding edge, the second chance points will go as well—Memphis won that battle 16-15.

This discrepancy in rebounding can be chalked up to foul trouble on the Herd's part. Both Robert Goff and Dennis Tinnon suffered through foul trouble which limited their time on the court (26 and 20 minutes of playing time) and limited their number of opportunities to collect rebounds.

Keeping players like Goff and Tinnon (as well as DeAndre Kane who averages nearly six boards a game as a guard) on the court will be important in winning the rebounding battle.

Shooting

The fact is Marshall is not a good shooting team. A base field goal percentage of 43.1 barely keeps the Herd in the top 200 of all Division I schools.

What's even more atrocious is the team's free throw percentage. A season average of 60.6% just screams missed opportunities. In all of NCAA Division I, Marshall ranks 331st in FT%. A better way of getting your head around that is to understand that there are only 12 schools in the entire country that shoot worse from the charity stripe.

During Wednesday's game against the Houston Cougars, Marshall managed to hit only 4-of-18 from the line (22%). That shooting performance was so awful that a rate of 60% would be looked at as a great game in comparison.

The 22-of-31 (71%) free throw performance against Memphis in the earlier meeting just seems like a work of utter fiction, but if the Herd wants to win on Saturday they are going to have to convert those opportunities at the line.

Half-Court Offense

Something that is often observed but never seemingly reported on is the stagnant half-court sets that Marshall runs.

All too often the ball will be passed around, but there won't be any movement on the perimeter. This allows for opposing teams to drop into zone defenses that clog passing lanes to the interior. By doing this, it forces the Herd into either making bad passes inside (which lead to turnovers), shooting over the zone or a player like DeAndre Kane attempting dribble penetration late in the shot clock (which can also lead to steals and charge calls).

Against Houston, Marshall had a night-and-day type of game. In the first half the offense was stagnant and turnover prone.

Kane chalked up four turnovers and the team was held to only 21 points. Perimeter movement was nearly nonexistent, with all of the dribbling being done either by Kane or Damier Pitts and the interior passing lanes to Goff and Tinnon being choked off.

However, in the second half Marshall came out looking much more fluid with lots of great pick-and-roll action—which freed up both the ball handler and the screen setter for open shots, easy passes and clear driving lanes to the hoop. 

If Marshall can run their offensive sets with the same efficiency that they exhibited in the second half against Houston, it will go a long way towards a big win. If their offense remains flat-footed, expect a lot of turnovers and bricks from the outside. 

Conclusion

The fact is that on paper the two teams are not separated by much. The prior meeting could have easily gone in the Herd's favor if they were able to capitalize on their inherent rebounding advantage.

To win this time around, Marshall is going to have to play to their strengths (rebounding and second chance opportunities) and find some way to get past their weaknesses (leaving points at the free throw line and getting movement on the perimeter).

These last three games to close out the regular season are the difference between going into the Conference USA Tournament with an eye on the title and a bid to the NCAA Tournament, or stumbling into a potential early exit and massively disappointing end to the season.