Southern Miss absorbed numerous comeback attempts by Marshall, but had just enough to escape with the win, 68-66, in a Sun Belt Conference matinee Saturday at Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg, Miss.
It was the league opener for both teams. The Golden Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak and the home team's fans got to meet new football coach Charles Huff, who left Marshall after coaching the Herd the last four seasons.
Marshall's last lead came at 19-18 midway through the first half. It was catchup from that point and the Thundering Herd suffered turnovers or missed free throws at key times to fall short yet again in a comeback try. The Herd pulled even three times in the second half and turned it over once late, so it could not get the elusive point to go ahead.
"I thought we had our chances," first-year Herd coach Corny Jackson said after the game. "We fought but we have to be a lot tougher. When you have a big-time environment on the road, you have to have that mental toughness. We didn't have that."
Denijay Harris paced the Golden Eagles with a career-high 29 points to with 10 rebounds for a double-double. He made 10-of-16 from the field with a 7-of-13 effort behind the arc. Christian Watson finished with 10 pounds. Southern Miss went the final 2:48 without a field goal.
Harris played three seasons at Southern Miss, transferred to Arkansas last season and came back to the Eagles this season. He saw limited time with the Razorbacks with just one start.
"He had three years here, goes to Arkansas, comes back here and I thought the guy was one of the toughest players on the floor and it showed."
Obinna Anochili-Killen led Marshall (7-6) with 15 points. Mikal Dawson and Dezayne Mingo netted 14 each. Nate Martin closed with 12. Anochili-Killen, the school's career lead in blocked shots, rejected three to raise that total to 206.
Southern Miss (5-7) had the edge in offensive rebounds (17-10), second-chance points (18-11) and points off turnovers (15-8). That disparity kept the Herd from either getting even or taking a lead.
Marshall shot well, going 25 of 48. It made just 12-of-21 free throws. The Golden Eagles shot 27 of 58, had six threes and made just 8-of-18 free throws.
With 1:28 left, Anochili-Killen made the first of two free throws to tie at 66-66, but missed the second shot. Harris hit the first of two free throws with 1:00 to go put the Golden Eagles back on top, 67-66. They then got the rebound on the miss, drew another foul with 59 seconds and missed the front end of that bonus. The Herd got that rebound and had another crack at the lead, but Dawson missed a three-point try with 35 seconds to go.
Southern Miss ran the clock down to 20 seconds and then Jakob Gibbs committed a foul for the Herd. Neftali Alvarez would make his first free throw, miss the second and Marshall got the rebound and took time with nine seconds to play. When action resumed, Martin got the ball, but saw it get away after a pass with four seconds to go for a game-deciding turnover as the clock ran out.
In the first half, Southern Miss slowly increased a lead to 8 at 39-31 on a follow up shot by Harris. Marshall cut the lead to five at the buzzer when Mingo nailed a three-pointer off a drive. He had 12 first-half points.
Harris put on a shooting show in the first half with 7-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-4 from behind the arc. He also pulled down seven rebounds.
Southern Miss ended a five-game skid against the Herd, dating back to when both belonged to Conference USA. Marshall leads the series 17-12. The Eagles are 9-2 all-time at home against the Herd.
During the halftime break, Southern Miss fans got to hear from Huff, who just so happened to help guide the Herd to its first Sun Belt Championship this season.
Marshall's off until next Saturday when it takes on Elon in Burlington, North Carolina. Tip is set for 7 p.m. for the Herd's final non-conference game of the season.