MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Marshall losing a Conference USA Tournament first-round game to Rice makes as much sense as ...

Well, as C-USA releasing its 2009 football schedule on the same day the league basketball tournament began here.

That's the kind of day it was here Wednesday.

Ridiculous in every way.

I mean, just exactly how does No. 10 seed Rice completely take away the inside game that had been the key to the seventh-seeded Marshall's late-season surge?

Nobody had accomplished that seemingly-impossible feat during Marshall's final nine regular-season games.

Nobody.

Not UAB. Not UCF. Not East Carolina. Not Tulane. Not Houston. Not UTEP. And, no, not even Rice.

Just one short week ago, Marshall thumped the Owls, 76-62, in the Henderson Center with Herd post players Markel Humphrey and Tirrell Baines combining for 38 points and 14 rebounds.

But Rice's defense suddenly became an unsolvable Rubik's Cube here Wednesday. Not only did Marshall not score inside, the Herd didn't even try to pass the ball into the post.

Marshall simply allowed Rice to take away the paint.

The result was a stupefying 60-59 loss to the Owls here at the FedExForum.

So, what was the problem? Why was getting the ball inside even tougher than explaining C-USA's lack of public relations savvy?

"Because they were sagging everybody in the middle," explained Marshall point guard Damier Pitts, after the Herd's post players managed only three field goals.

"We couldn't really get it down low to Markel and Tirrell like that. And if we did, they were like triple-teamed. There was nothing we could do."

Well, there was one thing.

The Herd could have made some 3-pointers. Goodness knows, Rice gave Marshall plenty of opportunities.

The Owls gambled that if they sagged their defense to suffocate Humphrey and Baines, Marshall couldn't beat them from the 3-point line.

The gamble paid off.

That short, dark-haired guy rolling the dice at Gold Strike Tunica casino Wednesday night? That was Rice coach Ben Braun.

At least, it should have been. Obviously, Braun was on a roll.

"We did a much better job on their schemes than we did last time we played," said Braun. "We made them struggle."

Did they ever.

Marshall couldn't have thrown a 3-pointer into the nearby Mississippi River.

After connecting on only 2 of 11 3-point shots in the first half, Marshall missed 12 consecutive threes in the second half.

The Herd finished 3-for-24 from 3-point range (12.5 percent) with Pitts' last-second three Marshall's only 3-pointer of the second half.

"It is just very difficult as a basketball team to have a chance to win games when we shoot 3-for-24," said Jones, "and really it was 2-for-23 because we made the last one."

Marshall's second-year head coach obviously was disgusted.

And he should have been.

A team with a 10-21 record advanced to the C-USA Tournament quarterfinals because Marshall couldn't get the ball inside, couldn't make a 3-pointer and couldn't make a meaningful pass.

The Herd finished with three assists on 20 field goals.

Three!

That tied a C-USA Tournament record and undoubtedly set one for Jones.

The bottom line is this was the second consecutive under-achieving effort for Marshall during C-USA Tournament first-round play.

The Herd found a way to lose to Tulane last year and couldn't find a way to beat Rice Wednesday.

Both should have been wins.

Chuck Landon is a sports columnist for The Herald-Dispatch. Call him at 526-2827. E-mail him at clandon@herald-dispatch.com.

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