WVU - Marshall Preview: Capital Punishment

Game Day Vitals

• West Virginia Mountaineers (6-4, 0-0 Big XII) vs. Marshall Thundering Herd (4-5, 0-0 C-USA)
• Series Record - 30-11, 19-5 in Charleston
  
• Location - Charleston Civic Center (13,000), Charleston, West Virginia
  
• Vegas Lines - N/A
  
• Date - December 14, 2012 at 7:30 pm ET
• Television - "Capital Classic Network"
  
• Referee Quality - horrible, awful, painful
  
• Radio Affiliates

Opponent Information

• Marshall Thundering Herd
• Conference - Conference USA
  
• Head Coach - Tom Herrion, Fourth year, 60-50 with Marshall (140-88 career)
• Last Result - Lost @ Penn St 90-77
• Official Marshall athletics website

Flopping with Tom Herrion

While VMI's Coach Duggar is certainly going to be my favorite opposing coach on this year's schedule, Tom Herrion might be my favorite to hate. We all remember the famous quarter incident, and Smoking Musket was obviously there to cover this gem. So not only is this guy a complete ass to the media, he goes and soccer-style flops while trying to call it a "non story." This is nothing short of hilarious and highly embarrassing to the Moo faithful. Media members even thought he was actually having serious health problems with his spasms.

All evidence of this has been taken off of YouTube, but luckily Deadspin runs their own video stuff. Another awesome fact is that all the major national media sources picked up on it, too. Yahoo!, ESPN, CBS Sports, SBNation, Bleacher Report, and even BroBible had something to say:

BroBible:

See that grown man lying on the floor, there? That's Marshall head coach Tom Herrion drawing a flagrant foul against Central Florida's Isaiah Sykes on Saturday. Sykes apparently tapped Herrion in the chest, causing the coach to flail around on the sideline like he was having a heart attack. It took the officials 15 minutes to review the footage of what had actually happened and they ended up calling a technical on Sykes. Whatever the noise, Herrion should get an award for that performance. That type of high drama makes soccer players look like community theater actors. Marshall beat UCF, 65-64. Afterwards, he was asked about the foul at least three times, pleading the fifth to the press each time. Pathetic.

CBS Sports:

It's considered gamesmanship when a player flops to draw a charge or feigns being waylaid by an elbow, but for a coach to resort to that crosses the line to bush league.

Herrion's sideline antics benefited Marshall in the short term since it helped the team win a key conference game. Now that the video has finally surfaced and it's receiving national attention, however, he may soon regret his over-the-top display.

Deadspin:

Marshall head coach Tom Herrion appeared to have survived "The Big One" toward the end of the second half against UCF on Saturday, when he was allegedly elbowed by Knights guard Isaiah Sykes and collapsed in pain. Repeatedly. And rather dramatically.

Obligatory:

Game Preview

There is still a lot to find out about this 2013-14 West Virginia basketball squad, but there is at least one thing we already know: WVU dumptrucks bad teams. Sadly, Marshall isn't really that bad of a team. Kareem Canty and Elijah Pittman are averaging 40 points/game by themselves and claim 48 of The Herd's 63 three pointers this season. So, the plan is to shut them down. Much easier said than done considering how open the Mountaineers have left shooters lately.

This is a pivotal game for the Mountaineer squad. The Missouri and Gonzaga losses would have been nice wins, but they aren't crippling to March. A loss to Marshall at a neutral site would most certainly plague this season danceless. I think the Eers know that and won't let that happen.

Prediction: WVU 80, Moo 69

Edit: bel134 reminded me that Pittman is suspended. Good times.