HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- James Kelly scored 27 points and grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds to lead Marshall to an 87-72 victory over Charlotte on Thursday night for its third straight win.

Kelly was 7 of 15 from the floor and surpassed his previous career-best of 15 rebounds he had against Wyoming on Dec. 21. Jon Elmore had 14 points and Austin Loop chipped in 13 for Marshall (14-12, 10-3 Conference USA), which is 10-3 in the conference for the first time since 1996-97.

Andrien White had 16 points and Braxton Ogbueze 12 for Charlotte (10-16, 6-7).

Marshall had an 11-point lead at halftime before Ogbueze made a 3-pointer to pull the 49ers to 46-40. The Thundering Herd answered with a 22-7 run to take a 68-47 lead midway through the second half and cruised from there. Stevie Browning scored seven of his 11 points during the stretch.