HUNTINGTON - Marshall got much of what it wanted Thursday night in its exhibition game against West Virginia State.
The Thundering Herd picked up a 93-70 victory, got all 15 available players in the game, faced a little adversity and compiled a good teaching video.
Perhaps most important of all, Herd players simply enjoyed going against somebody else, and doing it before an announced 5,178 at Cam Henderson Center.
"A lot of games left, but it felt good to be back out there," said Herd forward Ryan Taylor. "We know we still got a lot of work to do, especially on the defensive end. We got another one Sunday, 2 o'clock [against the University of Charleston]; we've got a lot to learn in the next two days."
Jon Elmore's 20 points led all scorers, with Taylor adding 16 and Stevie Browning 13. The Herd shot 49.3 percent from the floor and 80 percent from the free-throw line, but was a little off at 9 of 30 from 3-point range.
Those three formed the starting lineup with Terrence Thompson and Austin Loop, and they scored 66 points in a combined 98 minutes - just less than half the regulation 200.
"Going through the roster, I think our first five's pretty solid," said Herd coach Dan D'Antoni. "They all played well together. ... I thought Loop played pretty well. Jon's Jon and Ryan's Ryan. That group's pretty solid."
Behind them, Ajdin Penava scored seven points and Aleksa Nikolic had six, both in 18 minutes.
The Herd jumped out to a 23-7 lead and remained in control throughout, but State kept within 10-15 points much of the way. Picked 10th in the 12-team Mountain East Conference, the Yellow Jackets trailed just 44-34 early in the second half before the Herd dropped the hammer with a 14-2 run.
Penava's 3-pointer gave the Herd a 69-42 lead, but State followed with the next 14 points to make it 69-56. The Jackets could not get closer, however.
State had four double-figure scorers, led by freshman Earnest Jenkins with 16 points. Brent Bauer followed with 15, DeQuan Doyle 13 and Tyrie Elliott 12.
The Jackets struggled to shoot 31.7 percent from the floor, went just 8 of 16 from the foul line and 10 of 39 from 3-point range. Jenkins and Elliott were both 4 of 12 from behind the arc.
State was familiar with the pace of the game, playing West Liberty twice or more a season.
"They play fast, Marshall does, tries to shoot some 3s, lots of them," said Jackets coach Bryan Poore. "West Liberty presses more and tries to speed you up offensively. I tell you what: Marshall's defense is different, and it caused us a lot of problems, especially early.
"They try to keep the ball on one side of the floor, really do a good job of that with their length against us. And it forced us into 39 3s and a few turnovers."
In the first half, the Herd starters scored the first eight points as a jittery State missed its first seven shots. Loop had six of those on two 3-pointers.
As the lead extended to 23-7, the subs began to rotate in. Some of those subs didn't have a good time of it, and the Jackets rallied with Elliott's personal 8-0 run.
That cut the lead to 30-21, and MU's starters returned. Elmore scored the Herd's last seven points to finish the half.
State, which begins its season at home next Friday against Virginia Union, was working without Frank Webb, who left the program. Poore also is waiting for some players to have their eligibility cleared.
The Yellow Jackets outrebounded the Herd 23-12 on the offensive end, while the Herd had a 50-49 edge overall.
"You only get beat by one on the boards, here, and one of biggest post players is over there helping me coach, that's good," Poore said. "That's effort; that's what that is."
Marshall begins its regular season at noon on Nov. 12 against North Carolina Central.
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/.