Men's Basketball

Cougars collapse in second half

Freshman guard Joseph Young scored 16 points for the Cougars on 8-16 shooting in their 66-58 loss to Marshall on Wednesday. Young missed all four three-point attempts and the Cougars only connected on one of their 11 tries. Minus Young’s shooting and Leon Gibson’s 6-9 performance from the field, the Cougars shot just 10-33.  |  Brianna Leigh Morrison/The Daily Cougar

Freshman guard Joseph Young scored 16 points for the Cougars on 8-16 shooting in their 66-58 loss to Marshall on Wednesday. Young missed all four three-point attempts and the Cougars only connected on one of their 11 tries. Minus Young’s shooting and Leon Gibson’s 6-9 performance from the field, the Cougars shot just 10-33. | Brianna Leigh Morrison/The Daily Cougar

The Cougars (12-14, 4-9 Conference USA) looked to have things in hand with a 31-23 lead going into halftime and unexpected contributions from Joseph Young and Leon Gibson.

Those good feelings were eviscerated though by a 40-11 run by Marshall to open the second half en route to a 66-58 win by the Thundering Herd (17-10, 8-5).

Gibson (17 points, 11 rebounds) and TaShawn Thomas both notched double-doubles, but it was not enough.

The Herd had four players score in double figures and overcame a horrid 4-18 night from the free throw line.

Reigning Conference USA Player of the Week Jonathan Simmons went missing for the Cougars, following his 28-point outburst against Southern Miss with a 1-7 outing, netting just two points.

Simmons did not contribute much else, grabbing just three rebounds and turning the ball over four times.

Young scored 10 of his 16 points in the first half. He shot 8-16 from the field and missed all four of his three-point attempts.

As a team, the Cougars went 1-11 from three-point range. Their lone make came from point guard Jimmie Jones to knock the Herd’s lead down to 63-45 with 3:40 to go in the game.

The Cougars also got quiet nights from J.J. Thompson and Alandise Harris, both of whom fouled out.

Harris played 17 minutes and scored just five points on 2-4 shooting.

Thompson played 23 minutes, shooting 2-5 from the field for four points, recording no assists and four turnovers.

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