First and Ben

 By Ben Anderson        Juli Fulks, Marshall head women’s basketball coach, earned her first win at the helm Wednesday. Marshall defeated Elon 65-56 with a strong defensive showing by the Thundering Herd.      “I think I’ve been really blessed and lucky,” Fulks said during her postgame news conference. “There is no better job than this, and so to be able to watch them go out and the work they have done to get this win, to me, that the satisfying part.”      Marshall’s defense forced Elon into numerous mistakes and tough shots early by utilizing its 2-3 zone defense. At the first media timeout midway through the first quarter, with the game tied 8 all, Marshall had limited Elon to 3-9 shooting from the field and had forced 3 turnovers.       Marshall struggled offensively to start the game as well, starting the first five minutes only shooting 3-8 from the field.      “We were kind of slow to get go...

 by Ben Anderson      Cornelius Jackson, Marshall’s head basketball coach, said that the exhibition vs. Pikeville was a great opportunity to evaluate what the team has to offer this season.       “I liked their energy, their intensity, saw some things that we need to clean up,” Jackson said recently in a weekly news conference. “We missed too many layups around the rim, free throws we went 13-18, so we got to clean that up.” “Defensively, I would (like) to see us (get) more physical once a guy steps on us.”      Jackson, who in his first season as head coach after serving last season as the Associate Head Coach, took over the Marshall men’s basketball program following the departure of Dan D’Antoni.      One of coach Jackson’s core values for his team is physicality       “Each team is different,” Jackson said. “This team the physicality and grit overpowers.” “We want our offense to start with the ...

 By Ben Anderson      The Juli Fulks era of Marshall women’s basketball debuted on Monday night with a loss 71-68 loss to Toledo that the new head coached blamed on an abundance of fouls.       “One of the challenges we knew they had some really sound big post players.” Marshall women’s head basketball coach Juli Fulks said during her postgame news conference. “We got into some foul trouble and into some really unique lineups as the game went on.”      The Herd was called for 26 fouls, compared to Toledo’s 19. Blessing King, and Leyocha Marigney both came off the bench and fouled out, forcing Fulks to juggle the lineups.       I thought it was great and we went really deep into the bench (and) when you have three people fouling out and we lost somebody to an injury,” Fulks said.  “We were in some really unique lineups, and you know huge credit to our players of all the lineups.”       Wit...

 by Ben Anderson      The Cornelius Jackson era of Marshall basketball began Monday night when the new head coach’s team defeated the Davis & Elkins Senators 90-57.      Cornelius Jackson entered the matchup and succeeded long-time head coach Dan D’Antoni after ten seasons. Jackson served last season as the associate head coach and took over the head coaching role after D’Antoni parted ways as head coach.      Marshall had four players finish in double-digit scoring, including Wyatt Fricks, who ended the night with a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double.      The Herd jumped to a 13-4 lead at around five minutes into the game with Obinna Anochilli-Killen connected on a high-flying dunk, and Fricks hit the first Marshall three of the season.      Marshall held Davis & Elkins scoreless for the first four minutes of the first half. The Senators would miss its first four shots of the contest.   ...