Box Score BOX SCORE
Postgame with Scott Cherry

The High Point University men's basketball team got 26 points from Nick Barbour and 13 points and six rebounds from Jourdan Morris but the Panthers couldn't overcome its Conference USA opponent and took a 109-76 loss to Marshall on Sunday night at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, W.Va.

"I'm very proud of my basketball team and the way they responded after a long layoff with exams and our travel here," said HPU head coach Scott Cherry. "They didn't back down. Marshall is a really good basketball team. They're long, athletic and talented. We turned it over late and gave up some easy baskets."

High Point drops to 4-5 overall while Marshall improves to 9-1, including a 7-0 record at the Henderson Center.

Opening the game, Cruz Daniels won the tip-off against Marshall freshman Hassan Whiteside and Corey Law scored the first basket on a layup. Marshall had an early 9-5 lead before Morris scored on a goaltending call after a great feed from Tehran Cox. Marshall got strong defensive play early by Tyler Wilkerson and Whiteside that helped them score the next 11 points.

With the shot clock running down and the Panthers down by 13 midway through the first half, Eugene Harris hit a long-range three-pointer. On the next two plays in a row, Daniels blocked a Marshall shot and David Singleton finished it with a fast-break layup. That made it 20-14 before Marshall began to extend its lead. The Herd outrebounded the Panthers, 28-21 and outblocked HPU 7-2 en route to a 42-26 halftime lead.

Barbour scored the first basket of the second half and had six points in the first two minutes. However, the Panthers couldn't reverse the fouls trouble they had in the first half and Marshall opened up a large lead that it would hold throughout the second half. Barbour scored 23 of his 26 points in the second half.

Wilkerson and Damier Pitts each scored 18 points to lead six Marshall players in double figures. Wilkerson and Whiteside each pulled down 10 rebounds.

In addition to Barbour and Morris, Harris (16 points) and Singleton (11) also scored in double figures for the Panthers.

"I thought we played extremely hard in the first half," said Cherry. "We were outsized at every position. If a few things went a different way early on it could have been a different game."

High Point University continues its road trip with a game against Youngstown State in Youngstown, Ohio, on Tuesday at 7 p.m. HPU looks to avenge a 64-61 loss to the Penguins last year.