HUNTINGTON - After receiving his ritual hazing by Marshall's offense, I wondered when was the last time Rick Stansbury faced an offense with such a philosophy.
I mean, he coached in the Southeastern Conference for 24 years, eight as a Mississippi State assistant, 14 as the Bulldogs' head coach and two more years a Texas A&M assistant. Before all that, six years on the Austin Peay bench.
Surely, before the Thundering Herd dusted his Hilltoppers 94-80 Saturday night, he had seen something like that. Right?
"I think back, but it's probably the ... not quite this pace, but back to the Loyola Marymount bunch, those great teams they had," he said. "That was back when I was an assistant.
Whoa. I wasn't stepping into those waters.
Today's players weren't alive then, but LMU wanted to get a shot up in seven or fewer seconds. The Lions scored 122.4 points per game in 1989-90, a Division I record that may stand forever.
Today, 85 points is the modern equivalent of 100 (and wins the home fans a free biscuit). In this era of sticky defenses, overcoaching and overemphasis on raw athleticism over skill, points in Division I don't come cheaply. Only 17 of 347 D-I teams average 85 or more, and everybody is under 95.
Marshall, as Stansbury indicated, doesn't run at the LMU pace, and the Thundering Herd's attack isn't all about jacking it up. That offense works best is when the ball moves the quickest - whether it's two passes, six passes or whatever.
Ah, yes, the "athletic basketball." That, my friends, is what led to those 19 3-pointers Saturday night.
"We weren't really surprised [to get open shots] because our ball movement was terrific," said Stevie Browning, who scored 23 points. "Especially when they switched it up and played zones, we just zipped it around and found the open man, and people were knocking down shots.
"And that's what we're used to. That's what we do every day in practice."
But first-time opposing coaches aren't used to it, particularly when the come to Cam Henderson Center.
"Nobody in the SEC for 24, 26 years, plays quite like that. [D'Antoni's] got good players and they shoot that basketball, and when they've got it going, they're hard to beat," Stansbury said.
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Looking at it from a Western Kentucky viewpoint, Marshall may have succeeded in wearing the Hilltoppers out - or planting the thought that they may wear out.
Consider this: Stansbury went deeper into his bench early in the game Saturday, and paid for it.
WKU made is first substitutions 5:37 into the game, sitting a starter with an 11-point lead. At the 13:39 mark, three more starters it the bench, with WKU still up by nine.
The Hilltoppers were up by seven with 12:49 left when the final starter took a breather.
MU never had fewer than three starters on the floor in that stretch, and even then had sixth man C.J. Burks as a sub. Anybody want to guess the result?
Marshall cut a 22-8 lead to 22-21. After two straight Jon Elmore 3-pointers, Stansbury had seen enough, and called a timeout instead of waiting for the under 12-minute break. He reinserted three starters.
"It seemed like they really came back in that first half when [we] had that bench in there, but I was forced to get [the starters] some rest," Stansbury said.
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Some long-range numbers for your amusement:
Marshall fired 41 3-pointers and only 27 from inside arc Saturday, the fifth time the has tried more 3s than 2s. I'm sure some of you thought that would be higher.
The Herd is 2-3 in such games, also beating West Virginia Wesleyan, but losing to Ohio State, Eastern Kentucky and Alabama-Birmingham. The Herd's 41 launches is a season high, passing the 36 against EKU, Wesleyan and UAB.
Here's a myth-killer: The Herd does not lead the nation in 3-pointers attempted. It is only 16th with 544, well below the 805 of The Citadel. But the Herd is second among teams in the Rating Percentage Index top 100, behind North Carolina-Wilmington (27th RPI, 13th attempts).
Here's a category the Herd leads RPI top-100 schools: Possessions per 40 minutes for top-100 teams in the Rating Percentage Index. That number is 78.3, third among all D-I schools. (Yes, The Citadel leads with 82.4.)
The NCAA doesn't rank this stat, but North Carolina appears to be second in field goals attempted with 1,412. The Citadel leads with 1,643, and Marshall has 1,281 shots, about 64 a game.
(If you're wondering, the Bulldogs are 9-13, 2-7 in Southern Conference play.)
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Marshall's next opponent tallied 41 percent of the Herd's points Saturday. That's Texas-San Antonio, which stunk it up in a 59-39 loss at Texas-El Paso.
Under new coach Steve Henson, UTSA (9-10, 4-2) was the talk of the league after its strong C-USA start, which includes a 69-68 win at Louisiana Tech. But the Roadrunners shot 24.1 percent from the field, 2 of 22 from 3-point range, and 9 of 18 from the line at UTEP.
Both teams come to Huntington this week, UTSA at 7 p.m. Thursday, UTEP at 7 p.m. Saturday. I am betting 59 won't win either game.
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This weekend is the last weekend for football prospects to take official visits, which breaks well for the MU program. These days, a home basketball game presents a golden opportunity to show recruits a good atmosphere.
Over the weekend, several already-committed recruits showed up, and the Herd snagged at least one pledge.
That comes from running back DeCavilion Reese of Garfield Heights, Ohio. He announced his commitment Sunday afternoon in a "pinned" tweet. Playing at Cleveland Benedictine, Reese racked up 1,000-yard seasons as a sophomore and a junior despite sharing the load with talent such as current Ohio State linebacker Jerome Baker.
As a sophomore, Reese ran for 171 yards and four touchdowns in a Division IV state semifinal route of Steubenville. Some recruiting websites list him at 5-foot-10, 188 pounds.
I just like the guy's name. It's smooooth.
Contact Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsmock@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @dougsmock and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/dougsmock/.