MARSHALL BASKETBALL

Men's basketball Marshall 73, Ohio 68 HUNTINGTON - A heart-to-heart meeting with his coach has led to a game-by-game progression for Marshall freshman Damier Pitts. Four games into his college career, the talented-but-inexperienced point guard had twice as many turnovers as assists and his team had three losses compared to one win. Each of those losses occurred in the Glenn Wilkes Classic at Daytona, Fla. Marshall suffered back-to-back-to-back setbacks against Morgan State, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Mississippi. When the Thundering Herd returned to Huntington, Coach Donnie Jones called Pitts into his office. Jones showed Pitts the statistics that belong to a pair of premier point guards, UCLA senior Darren Collison and Florida sophomore Nick Calathes. "I showed him what they were doing for their teams to get him to understand that it wasn't about scoring," Jones said. Pitts arrived at Marshall from Hargrave Military Academy with the false belief that how well he played was a reflection of how much he scored. "Me being the best player on my team last year, I was thinking I had to do it all myself just like I did last year," said Pitts, who led the Tigers (29-0) to an undefeated record and a national championship last season. "But Coach Jones talked to me. He just told me he wanted me to know my role and control the team and let the game come to me." That is what Pitts has done since his hour-long sit-down with Jones. Just look at his performance Wednesday, when Marshall survived a second-half surge in a 73-68 victory over former Mid - American Conference rival Ohio in front of a Cam Henderson Center crowd of 5,019. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Pitts played 36 minutes and finished with 10 assists compared to three turnovers. Making 3-of-7 field goal attempts and 6-of-7 free throw attempts, he also scored 13 points to record his first double-double at Marshall. Among the shots the Charlotte native made were four free throws in the final 30 seconds, including two one-and-one opportunities that clinched the victory. "Just like practice," Pitts said of his clutch effort from the foul line. The Herd (5-4) led 37-26 at halftime, but the Bobcats (4-6) rallied to tie the score at 66-66 with 1:28 remaining in the game. Fifteen seconds later, junior guard Chris Lutz swished a three-pointer - his fourth - off an assist from Pitts to give Marshall the lead for good. "He made a big-time shot," Ohio Coach John Groce said of Lutz, a Purdue transfer who finished with a team-high 15 points. "Players make plays, and he made one there." Lutz couldn't have done it without Pitts, who has earned his teammates' respect with his ability to get the ball to them at opportune moments. "He's controlling the tempo the whole game," Lutz said of Pitts, who chose Marshall over Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Florida. "He's putting a ton of pressure on their defense. When they started to make a run, he drove it down the lane a few times on a fastbreak himself and gave us a lift." Sophomore forward Tirrell Baines agreed. "He's playing like a veteran right now," said Baines, who contributed 14 points and seven rebounds. "When OU came back, he controlled our team. He got us into our plays and executed. He's playing like a sophomore instead of a freshman." That wasn't the case at the beginning of the season. "In those first four games, I was rushing everything and not letting the game come to me," said Pitts, who has started all nine games. "In these last five games, I have just been controlling the team and running the tempo, speeding it up or slowing it down whenever we need to. "It has been a transition for me." Entering Marshall's non-conference matchup against Ohio, Pitts made 10-of-42 field goals (23.8 percent) and 3-of-15 three-pointers (20 percent) in his first four games compared to 17-of-36 field goals (47.2 percent) and 9-of-21 three-pointers (42.9 percent) in his next four games. He also averaged 9.0 points, 1.5 assists and 3.0 turnovers in 25.8 minutes in his first four games compared to 13.8 points, 4.5 assists and 1.0 turnover in 35.3 minutes in his next four games. Not coincidentally, Marshall was 1-3 in its first four games and 3-1 in its next four games. A team can do that when its point guard improves his shooting percentages, increases his assists and reduces his turnovers as dramatically as Pitts has. "He's getting comfortable with our players and our system," Jones said. That is why Pitts' minutes also have increased. "He's playing more because he's producing more," Jones said. "He has earned those minutes by the way he has played. It's important for us to have him in the game." Marshall will play host to Cumberlands on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Henderson Center. A member of the Mid-South Conference, the home of West Virginia Tech, the Patriots (10-1) are ranked No. 1 in NAIA. DUSTIN BALDWIN/PHOTO FOR THE DAILY MAIL Marshall freshman Damier Pitts (3) goes up for a shot against Ohio's Jerome Tillman during the Herd's home victory on Wednesday. Marshall 73, Ohio 68 Ohio UNIVERSITY (5-5) Player Min FG 3pt FT R A PT Washington 29 8-13 0-0 2-3 4 1 18 Orr 36 4-6 2-4 1-2 0 5 11 Tillman 37 7-9 0-0 0-0 4 1 14 Coleman 35 5-10 2-6 1-1 4 2 13 Allen 33 1-4 1-2 0-0 3 8 3 Van Kempen 11 2-2 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 Dobbs 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Freeman 12 1-1 1-1 2-2 0 0 5 Totals 200 28-45 6-13 6-8 17 20 68 Percentages .622 .462 .750 Marshall (4-5) Player Min FG 3pt FT R A PT Humphrey 32 3-5 1-1 1-2 2 2 8 Baines 30 6-7 0-0 2-2 7 1 14 Wilkerson 27 6-8 0-0 0-0 5 0 12 Pitts 36 3-7 1-3 6-7 0 10 13 Johnson 12 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 Merthie 14 3-5 2-4 0-0 0 3 8 Pena 7 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 3 Lutz 27 5-9 4-7 1-2 1 2 15 Spann 11 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Goode 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 200 27-45 9-17 10-13 18 19 73 Percentages .600 .529 .769 Ohio 26 42 - 68 Marshall 37 36 - 73 Steals: OU-8 (Washington 2, Tillman 2, Coleman 2, Orr, Van Kempen), MU-4 (Wilkerson 2, Pitts, Spann). Blocks: OU-1 (Washington), MU-3 (Wilkerson 2, Baines). Turnovers: Ohio 15, Marshall 11. Attendance: 5,019. Contact sportswriter Jacob Messer at jacobmesser@dailymail.com or (304) 348-1712. His blog is at blogs.dailymail.com/Marshall.