49er Takeaways: vs Marshall

It was an uncharacteristically beautiful February day outside and a festive day inside of Halton Arena as Charlotte 49ers basketball celebrated the accomplishments of their seniors. On this senior day, the 49ers (6-9, 12-14) would face off against the Marshall Thundering Herd (8-7, 15-13). The Herd looked to further improve on their sixth-place conference standing while the Niners looked to move up from their tenth spot and further solidify their chances to compete in the Conference USA tournament. The game would be back and forth with each team holding double digit leads at times but unfortunately the Niners fell short, 93-89. Here are a few takeaways from this senior night matchup:

Takeaways

1. Slow Out of the Gate

The 49ers looked overmatched at the beginning of Saturday evening’s game. Marshall outscored them 23-9 in the first seven minutes of the game, making things look easy. The Niners were being outhustled, giving up offensive rebounds and second chance points periodically. Almost effortlessly, Marshall was crashing the boards and finding the right shots. It was at this point that the game looked like it had potential to be a complete blowout. The Niners just didn’t look prepared for the relentless attack of Dan D’Antoni’s Thundering Herd. Luckily, the Niners would find a way to halt this momentum and eventually take the lead. However, things would’ve likely broken differently in the end had the Niners come out of the gate a bit faster. In the remaining two games against quality opponents, the Niners can’t afford to stumble in the opening minutes.

2. Rebounding Woes Persist

Rebounding problems continued for the Niners on Saturday evening. Marshall rebounded the ball 43 times while the Niners only rebounded the ball 29 times. This can be expected when you sacrifice size for speed in certain lineups as the Niners often do. At times the tallest player in the lineup was Anthony Vanhook who is generously listed at 6’4. Going with a fast lineup sometimes works for Mark Price’s squad, but it often backfired against Marshall who took advantage of the Niners’ weakness from the start. Ryan Taylor and Ajdin Penava each gave the Niners fits on the boards, grabbing 13 and ten rebounds respectively. In the future, the rebounding woes will likely continue. The Niners just have to play with relentlessness and do whatever they can to mask the deficiency.

3. Foul Trouble

Each team committed a wealth of fouls on Saturday evening. Marshall committed 20 of them while the Niners committed a whopping 26 with 19 coming in the second half. Some fouls were of the ‘nitpick’ variety but others were examples of undisciplined basketball. It’s great to play with physicality but you can’t overdo it to where you’re giving the opponent countless extra chances. This played a big role in the Niners losing a game in which they once had control of. Marshall would go to the line for 31 free throws, converting 23 of them. This helped the Herd get back into the game after the Niners had built a double-digit lead early in the second half. Overall, the Niners haven’t struggled much with foul trouble, but Saturday’s performance can’t become a trend.