Marshall torches Rice to begin C-USA title defense

FRISCO, Texas – Marshall opened on a 9-0 run and never looked back Wednesday night, laying an 82-65 shellacking on the Rice Owls in an opening round matchup at the Conference USA Championship.

“I thought we shot the ball really well,” Thundering Herd head coach Dan D’Antoni said. “It’s kind of hard to guard when (our team) shoots like that.”

Jon Elmore led the Thundering Herd (18-13, 11-7 C-USA) with a game-high 32 points, six rebounds and six assists, flirting with a triple-double in the early stages of the game. Marshall also had a balanced secondary scoring attack, as four other players scored at least eight points for the Herd. Taevion Kinsey had 12, Rondale Watson had 11 and frontcourt…