Marshall Torches The Nets From Long Range, Blisters UTSA 109-91

After falling to UTEP two nights ago in El Paso, Marshall struck it rich in San Antonio, en route to a 109-91 win over UTSA Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.

Marshall (12-12, 8-3) drained 18 triples, one shy of the school record, while tying a school record 30 assists on 36 made baskets in a wire-to-wire win led by Jon Elmore's 23 points. The sophomore drained a career-high seven 3-pointers on 7-of-12 shooting and dished out eight assists with only one turnover.

Marshall shot 55.4 percent (36-of-65) from the field and 52.9 percent (18-of-34) from long range while breaking the century mark in consecutive games against Division-I opponents for the first time since Dec. 28 and 30, 1988 (103 at Southern Miss and 101 vs. Northwestern, La.

James Kelly finished with 22 points and nine rebounds including a career-high four 3-pointers, Austin Loop netted 17 and Ryan Taylor had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Loop drilled a trey 19 seconds into the game for a 3-0 Herd lead and Marshall never looked back. Marshall raced out to a 7-0 lead while holding UTSA (4-20, 2-9) scoreless for nearly the first five minutes on 0-of-8 shooting. Back-to-back triples by Elmore and Stevie Browning put the Herd on top 15-5 with 14:23 to play in the first. The duo tabbed the "304 Boys" connected one play later on an Elmore to Browning alley-oop that sent social media into a frenzy.

Kelly put the Herd up 38-21 after sinking a triple with 6:58 left in the first, but the Roadrunners' Christian Wilson refused to let his team go down without a fight. Led by Wilson's career-high 29 points, UTSA closed to within five, 41-36, with 2:35 to go before the break. Marshall answered with an 11-2 run to close the half and a 52-40 lead at the break.

Marshall owned the second half, extending its lead to 20 on another Elmore trey with 5:49 left in the game. The Herd grabbed its largest lead of the night, 107-85, on its 18th triple of the night from Jacob Kilgore.

Browning finished with nine points and a career-high nine assists and two blocks for the Herd. Ryan Bowie added 26 points in the losing effort for the Roadrunners.

Marshall is out to its best 11-game start in conference since opening 8-3 under Greg White during the 1996-97 Southern Conference season. The Herd has its most wins in a season (12) since finishing 13-19 in 2012-13, and its most Conference USA wins (8) since going 9-7 in 2011-12.

Marshall welcomes its long week in conference play, with its lone game Saturday evening in Bowling Green, Ky. vs. Western Kentucky. Marshall hammered WKU 94-76 in the conference opener Jan. 3.