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ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThese guys are fun to coach,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� DÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™Antoni said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œA referee came by and said, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜Man, your team is one of the easiest teams to referee. TheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re so fundamentally sound.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ You know what? I appreciated that ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” not for me, but for my kids and for the staff. This is a pleasure, and I hope people enjoy it.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

Coming off a night in which he reached 2,000 points for his career, Marshall senior guard Taevion Kinsey did a little bit of everything Saturday.

Kinsey scored 23 points, dished out eight assists and added eight rebounds to lead Marshall. The senior from Columbus, Ohio, also knocked down all three of his 3-point attempts and walked into the postgame with a message.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œHey, I can knock those down, too,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Kinsey said with a smile.

While KinseyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s effort was strong for the Herd, the stat line that brought the biggest smile to DÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™AntoniÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s face was that produced by forward Obinna Anochili-Killen.

Killen, who had a slow start to the year after battling the flu, finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds while being active on both ends of the floor.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œA couple games, I havenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t been feeling good,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Killen said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œAfter the Queens game, I had the flu or something, so I was just trying to back. Now, IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m 100 percent so I decided to put it on the floor.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

Kinsey said the team is different when Killen gets it going like that and it was good to see him back to his old self.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe knew Obinna was going to be OK,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Kinsey said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThe sickness ran through the team. Everybody on campus got sick, so it was bound to get us, but nobody ever lost faith in Obinna. He figures it out, works hard every day.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

Andrew Taylor also finished with 14 points, while Micah Handlogten added nine points and eight rebounds for Marshall (3-1), which out-rebounded Coppin State 49-33.

The gameÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s pivotal stretch came late in the first half when Marshall turned it up defensively and went on a 17-3 run over the final 5:23 to take a 47-33 lead into the halftime break.

Coppin State, which had won three straight coming in and had also taken Georgetown to overtime on the road, came out aggressive early behind guard Sam Sessoms, who led the Eagles with 19 points.

Sessoms consistently got to the rim and finished in traffic, helping the Eagles knot things at 30 late in the first half.

From there, however, Marshall switched to a zone defense and was able to slow down the EaglesÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ driving lanes, which DÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™Antoni credited with making things difficult for Coppin State (3-3) offensively.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe hadnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t played zone all year, so they hadnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t seen it, and thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s about the time we broke into the zone,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� DÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™Antoni said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe got a few stops and we came down on the other end and scored.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s menÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball team has another quick turnaround as it hosts Chicago State at 7 p.m. Monday in what will be the teamÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s fourth game in eight days.