1955–56 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team

The 1955–56 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team represented Marshall College (now Marshall University) during the 1955–56 NCAA men's basketball season. The Thundering Herd, led by first-year head coach Jule Rivlin, played their home games at the Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse as members of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 18–5, 10–2 in MAC play to finish in first place. For the first time in school history, they received the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost to Morehead State in the first round.

1955–56 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball
Mid-American Conference champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	18–5 (10–2 MAC)
Head coach	Jule Rivlin (1st season)
Home arena	Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse

1955–56 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Marshall	10	–	2		.833			18	–	5		.783
Miami (OH)	8	–	4		.667			12	–	8		.600
Western Michigan	7	–	5		.583			11	–	9		.550
Toledo	6	–	6		.500			9	–	13		.409
Ohio	5	–	7		.417			13	–	11		.542
Kent State	5	–	7		.417			10	–	11		.476
Bowling Green	1	–	11		.083			4	–	19		.174
Rankings from AP Poll

The season also marked the first time in the program's history that the Thundering Herd were ranked in the AP Poll during the season, coming in at No. 18 on the week of January 31.

Roster

1955–56 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown Bob Ashley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Dave Dingess 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — Jack Freeman 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — G 16 Hal Greer 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — So Joe Hunnicutt 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Dave Kirk 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — John Mayfield 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Sonny Parkins 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — Jerry Pierson 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) — Cebe Price 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — 17 Charlie Slack 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Sr Paul Underwood 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — Ron Williamson — — Bill Zban — —	Head coach Jule Rivlin Assistant coach(es) None Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule/results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Dec 8, 1955*		Spring Hill	W 83–69	1–0	Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse  Huntington, WV
Dec 10, 1955*		Washington and Lee	W 115–83	2–0	Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse  Huntington, WV
Dec 15, 1955		Ohio	W 87–71	3–0 (1–0)	Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse  Huntington, WV
Dec 17, 1955		at Western Michigan	L 70–80	3–1 (1–1)	Oakland Gymnasium  Kalamazoo, MI
Dec 20, 1955*		at Morehead State	L 89–102	3–2	Button Hall  Morehead, KY
Dec 29, 1955*		vs. Boston College Fayetteville Invitational	W 130–69	4–2	Fayetteville, IN
Dec 30, 1955*		vs. Denver Fayetteville Invitational	W 79–78	5–2	Fayetteville, IN
Jan 4, 1956		Miami (OH)	W 99–93	6–2 (2–1)	Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse  Huntington, WV
Jan 7, 1956		Western Michigan	W 85–72	7–2 (3–1)	Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse  Huntington, WV
Jan 12, 1956		at Ohio	W 72–63	8–2 (4–1)	Woodruff Hall  Athens, OH
Jan 14, 1956		Toledo	W 92–53	9–2 (5–1)	Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse  Huntington, WV
Jan 18, 1956*		Morris Harvey	W 115–76	10–2	Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse  Huntington, WV
Jan 20, 1956*		at Baldwin Wallace	W 91–87	11–2	Berea, OH
Jan 21, 1956		at Kent State	W 97–83	12–2 (6–1)	Men's Physical Education Building  Kent, OH
Jan 28, 1956		Kent State	W 110–108	13–2 (7–1)	Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse  Huntington, WV
Feb 2, 1956*	No. 18	Morehead State	L 103–108	13–3	Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse  Huntington, WV
Feb 7, 1956*		West Virginia Wesleyan	W 85–64	14–3	Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse  Huntington, WV
Feb 10, 1956		at Bowling Green	W 87–85	15–3 (8–1)	Bowling Green, OH
Feb 11, 1956		at Toledo	W 78–70	16–3 (9–1)	The Field House  Toledo, OH
Feb 20, 1956		Bowling Green	W 95–91	17–3 (10–1)	Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse  Huntington, WV
Feb 22, 1956		at Miami (OH)	L 82–103	17–4 (10–2)	Withrow Court  Oxford, OH
Feb 25, 1956*		at Morris Harvey	W 109–91	18–4	Charleston, WV
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1956*		vs. Morehead State First Round – Midwest Region	L 92–107	18–5	Allen County War Memorial Coliseum  Fort Wayne, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.