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

Marshall dropped its most points scored during the Dan D'Antoni era while climbing back to .500 for the season.

Jon Elmore (33) drives to the basket for the Herd.
Jon Elmore (33) drives to the basket for the Herd.
Falecia Collier/Collier Photography

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.