The Marshall men’s basketball team dropped its final game in the Cayman Islands Classic on Tuesday, falling 78-71 to Oakland to end its three-game stretch in the tournament.
The Thundering Herd finished in sixth place, with a win and two losses.
A loss to Utah State was followed by a win over Florida International, but Marshall coach Dan D’Antoni said some of the players were still down after a win, lamenting on their individual performances instead of celebrating the team’s accomplishments.
D’Antoni said he thought that bled over into the loss against Oakland.
“We spent a little extra time talking about the mentality of winning,†D’Antoni said. “I’ve been around this game for 50 years, seen some great teams, and it really is a locker-room mentality that you have to have in each and every person, and [if] anybody doesn’t, it chips away at the end product.â€
Kevon Voyles paced the Herd against the Golden Grizzlies with 18 points. Nate Martin scored a dozen to go with 11 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double.
But Marshall shot only 37% from the floor in the loss and made just seven of 35 attempts from 3-point range, three of which came from Voyles. Kamdyn Curfman was held to single digits in the scoring column for the third straight game, finishing with a half-dozen points on 12 shots.
“We just couldn’t make shots, me included,†Voyles said. “We never found the rhythm that we played with [Monday] night [against FIU]. We’ve got to make shots and be better as a team.â€
With Obinna Anochili-Killen unable to make the Cayman Islands trip because of visa-related issues, the Thundering Herd was forced to grow up without him, with others playing bigger roles on both ends of the floor.
“That takes us down to only one starter from last year,†D’Antoni said. “That’s 13 points and seven or eight rebounds. Take that away, and someone who is familiar with how we’re running things, you take that out, and there’s a lot of searching going on, which is not a quick fix.â€
Four of Oakland’s starters chipped in at least 16 points in the win, led by 20 from Rocket Watts. Chris Conway scored 18, Jack Gohlke added 17 and Isaiah Jones had a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double.
The Golden Grizzlies pushed the lead to 14 points in the second half after a first half that featured 14 ties and six lead changes. Marshall’s largest lead was four points and came in the opening seconds of the second half.
Marshall outrebounded Oakland 48-44 and got 11 boards from both Martin and Wyatt Fricks. MU turned it over 13 times, three more than the Golden Grizzlies. Oakland blocked seven Herd shots and outscored Marshall 48-36 in the paint.
Marshall (2-3) returns to action Friday at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, to face the 16th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats (3-1), marking the first true road game for the Herd after four straight neutral-site games since its home opener more than two weeks ago.
