BY BRIAN T. SMITH
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Johnson City, Tenn. – ETSU coach Murry Bartow’s pleas had turned into harsh, guttural screams.
Bartow wanted defense. Aggressive play. Intensity.
“It was an important game, and I just felt I needed to assert myself a little bit more. So I did,” Bartow said.
It took the Bucs eight solid minutes to answer Bartow’s challenge. But once ETSU did, it never looked back.
The Bucs played their most-complete game of the season as they defeated Marshall 79-73 in a non-conference game on Tuesday evening inside the Memorial Center before a crowd of 4,080.
A much-improved ETSU (4-3) defense was the key. The Bucs held Marshall (3-2) to 38.8 percent (26 of 67) shooting from the field, while Marshall committed 19 turnovers.
Most importantly for the Bucs, they held their own in the rebound war – the Herd’s 38-36 advantage was offset by the fact that 22 of Marshall’s rebounds came in the first half.
“We went from a 1-2-2 zone to a 2-3 zone just to make them shoot – we knew they weren’t really a good shooting team,” said ETSU sophomore forward Mike Smith, who came off the bench to score seven points, collect six rebounds and dish out three assists.
Meanwhile, ETSU junior forward Kevin Tiggs continued his early-season charge.
Tiggs scored a game-high 24 points (9-of-17 shooting), while grabbing six rebounds and one steal.
“There was a little guy on me, and I knew I could blow right by him,” Tiggs said. “What was he gonna do? Grab me?”
Courtney Pigram used a hot second half to pick up 14 points and two steals for the Bucs.
Matt Walls led Marshall with 21 points, hitting 6 of his 14 3-point attempts.
After a sluggish first eight minutes, during which ETSU’s offense looked completely out of rhythm and lacked focus, the Bucs’ bench suddenly brought ETSU to life.
Smith and fellow ETSU reserves Jocolby Davis (five points) and Dequan Twilley (season-high 15 points) quickly gave the Bucs the edge they lacked in the early going.
“It’s important to get good play off the bench,” Bartow said. “I thought Mike looked a little more relaxed. Dequan was great. Jocolby was really good in his time.”
As Davis pushed the tempo and cut through Marshall’s interior, Twilley found a warm spot just beneath the middle-right side of the key, knocking down three mid-range jump shots in a four-minute span.
Then Tiggs came alive.
Starting from the top of the circle, Tiggs dribbled twice, crossed over, blew past two Herd defenders, and took a long leap before slamming the ball through the net.
When Tiggs followed with a putback basket on the Bucs’ next possession, ETSU grabbed a 22-21 lead with 7:30 left in the first half.
“[Kevin’s] just an energy guy,” Bartow said. “Kevin’s a very unusual kid, and I say that in a very complimentary way.”
The Bucs took a 35-31 lead into halftime.
A slow second half ignited for ETSU when Tiggs sent consecutive 10-foot jumpers off the glass and into the net, stretching the Bucs’ lead to 49-44 with 11:35 left in the period.
Tiggs’ inspired play also woke up Pigram.
After sitting on two points for the first 31 minutes, Pigram scored seven in the next 1:30.
“He played the way we wanted him to play,” Bartow said. “He took really good shots … he was very efficient.”
ETSU hits the road for a five-game road trip beginning with a matchup against Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. on Dec. 8.
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ETSU 79, MARSHALL 73
MARSHALL (4-2)
WALLS, Matt 6-15 3-3 21; BAINES, Tirrell 5-9 5-7 15; HUMPHREY, Markel 6-13
2-3 14; DORRIS, Mark 5-9 0-0 11; MARSHALL, Taurean 2-6 0-1 5; MERTHIE,
Darryl 2-10 0-0 5; WILKERSON, Tyler 0-2 2-4 2; OGLESBY, Jesse 0-1 0-0 0; BRO
GREBE, J.F. 0-0 0-0 0; JACKSON, Robbie 0-1 0-0 0; ALTIDOR CESPEDES, PM 0-1
0-0 0. Totals 26-67 12-18 73.
ETSU (4-3)
TIGGS, Kevin 9-17 6-10 24; TWILLEY, Dequan 4-6 6-8 15; PIGRAM, Courtney 6-10
1-1 14; REED, Andrew 3-8 1-2 7; SMITH, Mike 2-3 3-5 7; DAVIS, Jocolby 1-1
3-6 5; STRONG, Travis 1-3 0-0 3; SWADER, Kenyona 1-2 1-2 3; MISHLER, Blake
0-0 1-2 1; HUBBARD, Tommy 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 27-50 22-38 79.
Marshall 31 42-73
ETSU 35 44-79
3-point goals--Marshall 9-32 (WALLS, Matt 6-14; DORRIS, Mark 1-3; MERTHIE,
Darryl 1-6; MARSHALL, Taurean 1-4; ALTIDOR CESPEDES, PM 0-1; HUMPHREY,
Markel 0-4), ETSU 3-9 (PIGRAM, Courtney 1-2; TWILLEY, Dequan 1-1; STRONG,
Travis 1-3; SWADER, Kenyona 0-1; SMITH, Mike 0-1; TIGGS, Kevin 0-1). Fouled
out--Marshall-WALLS, Matt, ETSU-None. Rebounds--Marshall 38 (DORRIS, Mark
8), ETSU 36 (REED, Andrew 10). Assists--Marshall 11 (HUMPHREY, Markel 3),
ETSU 16 (SMITH, Mike 4). Total fouls--Mar