By CODY LINN

Marshall Athletics

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall University men’s basketball team (23-6, 12-4 Sun Belt) closed out its final home game of the regular season with an 88-78 win on Senior Day over the Troy Trojans (17-12, 9-7 Sun Belt) on Saturday night. The Herd clinched a double-bye and top-four seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with the victory. 

 “It feels good to walk into the tournament and be one of those top teams, but it puts a target on your back. You’ve got to be ready,” Taevion Kinsey said after the game. 

 MU honored Taevion Kinsey, Goran Miladinovic, Andrew Taylor and graduate assistant Stephen Galgano as part of its Senior Day ceremony before the game.  

 The Trojans cut the MU lead to four, 81-77, with just under two minutes remaining. However, Kamdyn Curfman nailed a three to send the Herd on a 7-1 run to closeout out the game.  

 “That last one put the dagger in them,” Taylor said about Curfman’s final make from three-point range. 

 Marshall came out of the gates hot to start the game on an 11-3 run led by four points from Taylor. The Corbin, Kentucky, native tallied a game-high 27 points and six assists in the victory. Taylor made nine of his eight attempts from the field. 

 Kinsey scored 22 points and fell just a pair of rebounds short of a double-double with eight. The Columbus, Ohio, native drained nine shots on 15 attempts. 

 With five makes on 10 attempts from behind the arc, Curfman registered 15 points. Obinna Anochili-Killen also collected 15 points in the contest on a 6-for-10 shooting night. Anochilli-Killen also rejected three shots. 

 The Herd made 63 percent (17-for-27) of its shots from the field in the second half. 

 Notes 

Marshall outrebounded Troy 40-32 and is now 15-1 when it wins the battle on the glass. 

 Kinsey has scored 20 or more points in each of the last three games, while Taylor has tallied at least 25 in the last four. Kinsey notched his 18th game of the season of 20 or more points as Taylor recorded his 13th such game this season. 

 The Herd is 8-0 when it goes 50 percent or better from the field after making 50.8 percent of its shots in the contest. 

 Kinsey sits at 2,570 points for his career. He’s five points away from passing Skip Henderson’s mark of 2,574 points for second all-time. Kinsey is also 12 made field goals away from surpassing Henderson’s 1,000 made buckets for most in program history as he has 989. 

 The duo of Kinsey and Taylor are lone pair of teammates in the country averaging 20 or more points per game as Kinsey sits 21.9 and Taylor at 20.1. 

 UP NEXT 

The Herd begins its final road trip of the regular season on Wednesday at James Madison.

TROY (17-12)

Turner 3-6 1-3 8, Williams 5-11 2-4 12, Eugene 1-6 0-0 2, Muhammad 2-8 0-0 5, Punter 1-4 0-0 3, Phillips 9-21 2-4 22, McNeill 9-11 0-0 18, Fields 3-3 0-0 7, Tshimanga 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 33-70 6-13 78.

MARSHALL (23-6)

Anochili-Killen 6-10 3-3 15, Handlogten 3-5 1-2 7, Curfman 5-10 0-0 15, Kinsey 9-15 3-4 22, Taylor 9-18 6-7 27, Conner 0-2 2-2 2, Miladinovic 0-3 0-0 0, Fricks 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-63 15-18 88.

Halftime–Marshall 38-30. 3-Point Goals–Troy 6-25 (Phillips 2-10, Fields 1-1, Punter 1-2, Turner 1-3, Muhammad 1-4, Williams 0-2, Eugene 0-3), Marshall 9-24 (Curfman 5-10, Taylor 3-8, Kinsey 1-1, Handlogten 0-1, Conner 0-2, Miladinovic 0-2). Fouled Out–Handlogten. Rebounds–Troy 30 (Williams 8), Marshall 34 (Handlogten 10). Assists–Troy 12 (McNeill 4), Marshall 21 (Taylor 6). Total Fouls–Troy 11, Marshall 10. A–5,711 (9,048).