First and Ben

 By Ben Anderson      Marshall men’s basketball made a comeback to get within two points after trailing by as much as 20, but it was not enough as the Herd fell Thursday 86-81 against Georgia State.       The game started hot in the advantage of the visiting Panthers, making seven of its first eight shots and    taking a 11-5 lead.      Marshall then turns on the intensity as Mikal Dawson would hit four trifectas in a span of two minutes as Marshall would go on a 14-4 run to take a 24-20 lead with 11:52 remaining in the first half.       “It was a good run, but we shot 30 threes in 66 shots,” Marshall head men’s basketball coach Corny Jackson said in his postgame news conference. “That’s probably too many, even though we made 12. I want to see us attack the basket a bit more and get to the line.”      The Panthers quickly responded by outscoring Marshall 33-11 in the final 11:25 of the fi...

 By Ben Anderson      This past weekend, Marshall Track & Field broke numerous school records in the Hokie Invitational at Virginia Tech University.      Leading the way for the men’s team was freshman sprints runner Micah Cotes, breaking the men’s indoor 300-meter dash record with a time of 34.54 on day one of the competition.      Director of Track & Field and Cross-Country Keith Roberts said that Cotes' work ethic is what stands out about him the most.      “That entire meet he was like an iron man,” Roberts said in an interview with FM88 Sports Ben Anderson. “[He] did four events day one with a school [record] but then finished day two with a great split on the four by four. His mentality is like that every day comes in and goes to work and he really wants to be great and take it to the next level and when people do that, it's great to see them reap the benefits of the work that they put in.”    ...

 By Ben Anderson      Marshall men’s basketball aims to extend its winning streak to four games on Thursday when it welcomes the Georgia State Panthers to the Cam Henderson Center.       The Thundering Herd earned its first road win of the season during its most recent four game stretch and hasn’t looked back since.      Marshall enters the contest at 13-9 (6-3) and ranked 5th in the Sun Belt Conference. Georgia State is 7-14 (3-6) and ranked 12th in the league.      The Herd is coming off a 71-67 road victory over the Georgia Southern Eagles. The Herd is 10-2 at home this season. The Panthers aim to end a four-game skid and earn its first road win of the season where they are 0-7 on the season.       The contest marks the sixth overall meeting between the two programs and the second in the past two weeks. On Thursday, Marshall defeated Georgia State in Atlanta 92-79. Marshall leads the series 5-1 ...

 By Ben Anderson      Marshall women’s basketball has not found luck on the win column in the new year. The Herd aims to regain its winning charm and end a 7-game losing streak Wednesday when it welcomes the Georgia Southern Eagles.      Marshall, which has not won a contest since its 77-38 victory against NCAA Division II Davis & Elkins on Dec. 21, 2024, has lost its first seven games of conference play.      The Herd now sits at 5-13 following a gut-wrenching 68-64 loss Saturday to the Appalachian State Mountaineers in a game that Marshall led for 25:41 of the contest.      The 0-7 start to Sun Belt Conference play is the program’s worst start to league play as members of the conference. The slow start is the team’s worst start since starting 0-8 in Conference USA league play in the 2013-14 season.      The seven-game losing streak for Marshall is longest since the Herd lost 9 games in the 2016-17 seas...

 By Ben Anderson      The Sun Belt Conference this afternoon announced that multiple athletes of Marshall Track & Field cruised the weekly honors awards.      Senior Kylee Mastin earned Sun Belt Conference Women’s Track Athlete of the Week, after winning the mile and 1k race Saturday at the Marshall Alumni Classic. She set a new 1k record with a time of 2:51:30, breaking the previous school record from former runner Abby Herring.      “She has taken on the role of trying to be as best as possible for her,” Marshall Cross Coach Caleb Bowen said in an interview with FM88 Sports, Ben Anderson. “That’s one of the biggest transformations for Kylee. She’s gone from maybe being a little more centered on her to centered on what she can do for the team.”      Bowen said that Mastin’s confidence has grown since she transferred from Ball State University in 2021.      “The fact that she was really scared to do long...

By Ben Anderson      Marshall men’s basketball on closed out its four game homestand Saturday, with an 81-69 victory over the Georgia Southern Eagles.       Marshall led for the more than 37 minutes of the contest, taking the lead at the 17:02 mark in the 1st half with Graduate Student Mikal Dawson connecting on a trifecta to give Marshall an 8-6 lead.      Dawson made five 3-pointers for the sixth time this season, as Marshall shot 10 for 26 from behind the arc.       “I feel like it can get really easy,” Dawson said during the postgame news conference. “As soon as I see like one or two go in, I start to feel pretty good. I feel ike my teammates also trust me, to get the ball to me, and just find me whenever I’m open. They trust me to knock the shot down.”      Graduate Student, Jalen Speer, scored the first points for Marshall on his eighth consecutive make from downtown, and Dawson drilled two of his...

 By Ben Anderson      Jalen Speer had a historic shooting night with a career-high 7 three-pointers to lead Marshall to a 80-78 victory Thursday over James Madison.      Speer finished the game with a season-high 27 points. Additionally, he made program history going 7-7 from beyond the arc to become the only player in program history to go 100 percent on long range shots with at least seven makes. The graduate student and Florida A&M transfer is the only player in the nation to be perfect from trifecta with at least seven makes this season.      “Just trust in my work,” Speer said during the postgame news conference. “I’ve had a couple of games where I lost my confidence throughout the season with some trials and tribulations, but I just trust in my work. My teammates, like this guy (Cade Gibbs) right beside me, rallying around me, makes nights like this hard to beat.”      After James Madison’s Mark Freeman went 1-2 ...

 By Ben Anderson      Marshall aims for back-to-back wins Saturday, when it welcomes the Troy Trojans.      Both teams are coming off victories on Thursday with Marshall defeating Texas State 77-71, and Troy defeating Appalachian State 69-61.       The victory on Thursday for Marshall was the first Sun Belt Conference victory for first-year head coach Cornelius Jackson that improved the Thundering Herd to 8-7 (1-1).      “It’s a dream come true, Jackson said during his postgame news conference on Thursday. “Being the head coach at Marshall has always been my dream. I’m 46, about to be 47, and it’s been my dream since I was 19 years old.”      This is the sixth meeting between the two programs and third since Marshall joined the Sun Belt Conference. Marshall leads the series 3-2, with Troy prevailing last season 82-66.      Troy is 2-0 in league play and aims to become the only team in the...

 By Ben Anderson      Marshall men’s basketball is set for its Sun Belt Conference opener Thursday when it welcomes the Texas State Bobcats.       Marshall is 7-7, (0-1) after concluding non-conference play with a 73-59 road loss against Elon on Saturday. Texas State is 8-5 (1-0), coming off a 72-80 loss against Texas Arlington.       This is the third meeting between the two schools with all the meetings coming in the short three-year span of Marshall competing in the Sun Belt Conference. Marshall won the previous matchup last season 79-75.      The Thundering Herd is led by first-year head coach Cornelius Jackson. Jackson succeeded long-time head coach Dan D’Antoni after serving last season as the associate head coach.      Marshall opened Sun Belt Conference play on the road falling to Southern Miss 68-66 on Dec. 21, 2024. Texas State won its conference opener, defeating Georgia Southern on Dec....