HUNTINGTON - We've gone over this before, but it bears repeating.
What Marshall is doing within Conference USA this season is a heck of a story. It's what should be a heck of a national story. After an 0-6 start? After a 4-9 start? These guys are really now 10-3 in league play after whipping Charlotte 87-72 on Thursday at the Henderson Center?
Look, credit coach Dan D'Antoni. Credit Charleston product Jon Elmore for taking over at the point guard position. But also credit Thundering Herd assistants Mark Cline, Chris Duhon and Scott Rigot for fashioning the game plan and the team for listening and executing.
For that's exactly what happened on Thursday.
Yes, Marshall was at home. Yes, the Herd was favored by 4 points or more in Vegas. But Charlotte, not MU, came in as the hot team. The 49ers had won three of their last four games and six of their last eight. Marshall was 2-2 in its last four games.
"Our staff did a great job preparing our team defensively," D'Antoni said. "This [Charlotte] team came in hot as a firecracker."
Yet it fizzled out like a black snake dud. Because the Herd players listened.
See, many coaching staffs do well scouting the opposition and preparing a nice game plan. The key, however, is getting the players to execute.
Want to know Marshall's game plan prior to the Charlotte game? Here's the deal.
First, MU's coaches knew senior forward James Kelly had to outduel Charlotte's 6-foot-10 senior Joseph Uchebo. The last time the two teams met, Uchebo had a whopping 24 points and 21 rebounds. No way Kelly would top that, right?
Wrong. Kelly bettered that with 27 points and 23 rebounds. Uchebo was held to four points and nine rebounds. How?
"Attack him," Kelly said. "In the last game, I settled for jump shots. He's not really good at banging inside. I just tried to attack him and get him in foul trouble."
He pointed to the coaches.
"They were saying it all [Wednesday] in practice," Kelly said. "They said he was going to be on me and I had to attack him."
The other key figure was supposed to be MU junior forward Ryan Taylor. It was stressed that he must play well against a 49ers perimeter player.
That went by the boards. Because of foul trouble, Taylor played but three minutes in the first half and 13 overall.
"The coaches preached all week those two guys [Kelly and Taylor] were going to be huge for us," Elmore said. "Ryan got in a little bit of foul trouble, but James really stepped up and kind of took over for us."
MU took over - because it achieved its third and final goal: keeping Charlotte's penetration in the lane down yet still contesting the 49ers' 3-point shooting.
That's a tough ask. But Marshall's players answered, holding Charlotte to 8-of-27 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc and 36 points in the paint. When the game was in question, Charlotte was 6 of 24 on 3s and had just 24 points in the paint. Understand that not all the points in the paint came from penetration.
"Charlotte is a heck of a team," Elmore said. "Those guys can really shoot the ball. I think we really stepped it up in intensity and energy. We stayed focused and held them down to a pretty low percentage. I think we played great team defense tonight."
Elmore said his teammates did a "fantastic job" communicating on defense.
Maybe communication is the key to this team. From the coaches to the players. Within the players on the court.
Whatever the case, MU is having fun. As in a bunch.
"Jitters nonstop," Elmore said. "We're winning games and winning always makes things better, but we're playing great as a team too. I think one of the biggest things is guys are out there having fun. You look out there and guys are smiling, laughing, hugging ... goofing around a little bit, but having fun playing basketball. The system is awesome. Everybody is stepping up and getting better each game. That's huge for us."
Getting better. Listening. And, once again, it's MU that's hot as a firecracker.