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B.J. Walker

HUNTINGTON, WV ­ Buffalo couldn't overcome the early hot shooting of Marshall as it dropped an 87-77 decision to the Thundering Herd at the Cam Henderson Center on Saturday night.

Marshall rode the hot hand of Ronald Blackshear who scored 19 of his game-high 26 points in the first half. The junior sharpshooter drained five three-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game to help set the tone. As a team, Marshall shot 63 percent (17-27), including 58.3 percent (7-12) from three-point range in the first half. Despite the Herd's impressive shooting display, the Bulls hung tough for much of the first stanza. But a late Marshall run gave the Herd a 48-33 halftime advantage.

Marshall built its lead to 18 points early in the second half, but a resilient Bulls squad refused to go away and managed to cut the lead to seven points with 7:44 left. However, the Bulls would get no closer as Marshall's hot shooting continued, enabling the Herd to hang on for the 10-point victory.

Statistically, the Bulls played much better than the final score indicated. They made four more buckets, had two less turnovers and collected the same number of rebounds as Marshall. The Bulls shot a solid 50 percent (34-68) from the floor. However, Marshall won the free throw battle as they shot 16-of-23 (69.6 percent) from the charity stripe, compared to the Bulls who made only six trips to the free throw line (5-6). In addition, Marshall drained 11 three-pointers to Buffalo's four. The Bulls dominated the inside game, scoring 52 points in the paint, compared to 24 for Marshall.

Buffalo (3-12, 0-7) got a standout performance from B.J. Walker (Cincinnati, OH/Mt. Healthy) who scored a workmanlike 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds, both team-highs. Jason Bird (Ypsilanti, MI/Ypsilanti) broke out of a recent shooting slump by dropping a career-high 15 points, including three treys. Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) scored 12 points and dished out seven assists.

Along with Blackshear, Marshall (9-6, 5-2) was led by Marvin Black who scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Monty Wright chipped in with 11 points for the Herd.

"I thought Marshall did a great job in the first half," Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "They got out and ran well. I thought offensively we played well, but against a team like Marshall, there is little margin for error."

The Bulls have now dropped nine straight games and are still in search of both their first conference and road victories of the season.