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MARSHALL SPORTS
Merthie is Marshall's man now
Marshall guard Darryl Merthie makes a move on the perimeter during the Conference USA game with Southern Miss at Marshall's Cam Henderson Center on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010.
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HUNTINGTON -- Darryl Merthie is always on call for the Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team.
When something needs fixing, Marshall head coach Donnie Jones often dials Merthie's No. 0 for assistance.
Need someone to fill in at point guard? Call Merthie.
Looking for a defensive stop? Call Merthie.
Want someone to provide some energy? Call Merthie.
His number was dialed so many times in the last four seasons that Merthie is on pace to appear in more games for Marshall than anyone other than Skip Henderson. And, if Marshall's season extends beyond a Conference USA tournament first-round game, Merthie could set the record.
Merthie's career has spanned 114 games while Skip Henderson played in 125 from 1984 to 1988.
That makes Merthie proud because so he had so many doubters along the way.
"I remember people telling me I wasn't going to be here long," he said.
The 6-foot Merthie was an all-state guard at Lake Mary High School in Sanford, Fla., who scored 30.5 points a game, but was academically ineligible for Marshall as a freshman in the 2005-06 season. He stayed with it on the court and in the classroom, earning back the lost year of eligibility and is one of the Herd's three seniors playing this season.
East Carolina (7-15, 1-7) and Marshall (15-7, 4-4) meet at 7 p.m., Saturday, in a Conference USA game in Cam Henderson Center that is televised on WSAZ-3.
Merthie will be in the starting lineup at point guard for the second consecutive game and 14th time this season. He replaced suspended starter Damier Pitts on Wednesday for a game at Tulsa. Pitts is back with the team and will probably play, but Merthie is starting, coach Donnie Jones said.
Tulsa beat Marshall, 73-69, but Merthie had a solid outing with six points, three rebounds, six assists and two steals. He committed just one turnover in a career-high 37 minutes on the court.
"Darryl played a real good game," Jones said. "He ran our team."
Merthie's season statistics include 4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds per game with 63 assists, 31 assists and 30 turnovers in average playing time of 17.6 minutes.
He has played in 62 consecutive games.
"I want to do whatever I can to help the team win," Merthie said. "Just keep doing like I did in the last game. Getting everybody involved and setting the tempo. And having energy, that's the main thing."
Marshall enters what Jones described as a new season. The Herd has lost five consecutive games -- four of them in the conference -- and has nine remaining contests before the C-USA tournament.
Three of Marshall's losses in the skid were by margins of only two, three and four points.
Jones said all you can do is move on and keep playing.
"It's been a rebound, a free throw, a bad bounce, a defensive stop -- the things that win games," he said. "We've focused on why we win and why we lose."
East Carolina's only league win was against Tulane, and the Pirates lost to the Herd by 18 points on Jan. 9 at home.
Merthie said you can't live in the past.
"We take it one game at a time and focus on the future," he said. "Keep coming to practice and focusing on things we need to get better on."
Senior forward Tyler Wilkerson's 13.0 scoring average leads Marshall and he had a career game at Tulsa with 26. Wilkerson is playing with a sprained ankle. Hassan Whiteside is next on the team with a 12.9 scoring average and leads with 8.9 rebounds and an NCAA-best 5.4 rebounds a game. Sophomore guard Shaq Johnson is also a double-figure scorer at 11 per game.
East Carolina junior point guard Brock Young averages 14.6 points and is first in C-USA with six assists a game.
"They have a great point guard," Merthie said. "He's smart. He knows where all his players are on the court at all times."
The Pirates also have sophomore forward Darrius Morrow and junior forward Jamar Abrams scoring 12.8 and 11.5 points per game respectively. Morrow, who had one point against Marshall in the first meeting, scored 28 on Tuesday when UCF won at East Carolina, 67-56.
Merthie said he takes all games seriously, even one against someone the Herd has already beaten.
"East Carolina is a good team," he said. "They're going to come in with a lot of energy.
"We've got to lock in and keep our intensity."
