Marquette University Athletics
Marquette Basketball Opens 2000-01 Campaign
11/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 13, 2000
2000-2001 MARQUETTE BASKETBALL
Golden Eagles (0-0) vs. South Alabama (0-0) Nov. 14, 2000 -- Game #1 Preseason NIT
Game Data Site - Milwaukee, Wis. -- Bradley Center (19,150)
Tipoff - 7:05 p.m. CST
Radio - Marquette Basketball Radio Network (Steve "The Homer" True,Play-by-Play)
Television - Midwest Sports Chanel (Pat Hughes, Play by Play, George Thompson, Analyst)
Probable Marquette Starters -- (exhibition stats) G #10 - Cordell Henry (Jr., 5-10, 160, Chicago, Ill.) 8.0 ppg, 6.5 apg 9-of-9 from foul line in two exhibiton games
G #22 - Brian Wardle (Sr., 6-5, 205, Clarendon Hills, Ill.) 14.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg Preseason 2000-01 All-C-USA First Team pick by Athlons, Basketball News and The Sporting News
F #43 - Oluoma Nnamaka (Jr., 6-7, 218, Uppsala, Sweden) 14.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg Team-high 17 points in exhibition win over BC Flowtex
F #40 - Terry Sanders (Fr., 6-8, 215,Milwaukee, Wis.) 9.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg Shot 69.2% from field (9-of-13) in exhibition games
C #35 - John Mueller (Sr., 6-10, 240, Cedarburg, Wis.) 4.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg Averaged 17.0 minutes in two exhibitions
Probable South Alabama Starters
F #43 - Henry Williams (So., 6-7, 215)
C #55 - Virgil Stanescu (Sr., 6-10, 270)
G #11 - Demetrice Williams (So., 6-2, 145)
G #22 - Ravonte Dantzler (Sr., 6-2, 200)
G #33 - Brett Gravitt (Sr., 6-3, 200)
The Teams Marquette and South Alabama get the 2000-01 season underway on Tuesday night (Nov. 14) when they collide in an opening-round game of the Preseason NIT. The winner of tonight's contest will advance to play the winner of the Indiana-Pepperdine game on Friday, Nov. 17. The Golden Eagles posted a 2-0 record in their exhibition games prior to their meeting with South Alabama. On Nov. 2, Marquette topped the California All-Stars, 84-76, behind 19 points from senior Brian Wardle and 17 from freshman Scott Merritt. On Nov. 9, MU dumped the BC Flowtex Team from Slovenia, 85-57. Leading the way for Marquette in that affair was junior forward Ouloma Nnamala with 17 points and eight rebounds, both team highs.
In terms of personnel, MU welcomes back eight letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team that posted a 15-14 overall record that included a berth in the NIT. Five of the top six point producers from a year ago are back in the fold, including senior Brian Wardle (16.6 ppg), as are the top three rebounders (Oluoma Nnamaka, 6.7 rpg, Jon Harris, 6.5 rpg and Wardle, 4.6 rpg).
South Alabama dropped both of its exhibition contests, coming out on the short end of a 74-69 decision to Global Sports (Nov. 2) and a 74-72 outcome against the Yakima Sun Kings of the CBA (Nov. 8).
The Jaguars also return four starters from a successful 1999-2000 campaign that saw them march to an overall record of 20-10. USA captured the Sun Belt Conference regular-season title with a 13-3 record. Senior center Virgil Stanescu, 6-foot-10, led the team in both scoring (13.4 ppg) and rebounding 6.9 rpg) a year ago en route to All-Sun Belt Conference honors. Senior guard Ravonte Dantzler, a native of Milwaukee (Messmer HS) finished second on the team's scoresheet last season (12.3 ppg) and also earned All-Sun Belt recognition.
Marquette and the Preseason NIT This will be Marquette's second appearance in the Preseason NIT with the school making its prior appearance in 1990 when it dropped an 87-74 decision at No. 6-ranked Duke.
More on the Preseason NIT A total of 11 of this year's 16 teams in the Preseason NIT advanced to postseason during last year, five to the NCAA (Duke, ranked No. 1 in the nation at the end of the regular season, Indiana, Temple, Texas and Pepperdine) and six to the NIT (Marquette, New Mexico, Villanova, California, Princeton, Delaware).
MU's Top Defensive Scoring Efforts Under Tom Crean
Date Opponent Pts. Allowed 1/5 ST. LOUIS 38 11/20 CHICAGO STATE 43 12/4 APPALACHIAN ST 51 12/20 HAMPTON 52Marquette Head Coach Tom Crean Tom Crean is in his second season as the head coach of the Golden Eagles' program. In his initial year, Crean (Central Michigan, '89) guided Marquette to an overall record of 15-14 that included a berth to the NIT, the school's 13th appearance in that tournament. In C-USA play, Crean led MU to an 8-8 record, good for fourth place in the American Division.
In games played in Milwaukee, Crean stands 12-4 (11-3 at the Bradley Center, 1-1 at the Milwaukee Arena).
Prior to being named the school's head coach on March 30, 1999, he served as an assistant for 10 seasons. His coaching resum? includes stops at Michigan State (1989-90), Western Kentucky (1990-94), Pittsburgh (1994-95) and again at Michigan State (1995-99).
Tom Crean's Marquette Record 15-14/2nd season Tom Crean's Career Record 15-14/2nd season
Marquette and the Sun Belt Conference While Marquette and South Alabama will be meeting for the first time in basketball, MU has an all-time record of 13-2 against teams that now comprise the Sun Belt Conference. The last time MU played a Sun Belt Conference opponent came on Dec. 21, 1993, when it posted an 84-48 win over Louisiana Tech. The game against the Jaguars will be the first of two contests that Marquette will play against Sun Belt Conference teams this season. On Saturday, Dec. 9, MU will host Arkansas-Little Rock at the Bradley Center starting at 1:00 p.m.
South Alabama Coach Bob Weltlich Bob Weltlich (Ohio State, '67) enters his fourth campaign as the head man at South Alabama and owns a school record of 52-33. During his stint at USA, he has guided the program to a pair of 20-plus win seasons and one NCAA Tournament bid. He has led the Jaguars to regular-season Sun Belt Conference championships in 1998 and 2000 along with a SBC Tournament title in '98. In 20 years as a college head coach that includes stints at Florida International (1990-91 through 1994-95), Texas (1982-83 through1987-88) and Mississippi ( 1976-77 through 1981-82). Weltlich has compiled a career slate of 271-303.
Marquette Faces Formidable Schedule in 2000-01 Marquette faces one of the most challenging schedules in the history of the program in 2000-01, playing a minimum of 12 opponents that participated in postseason play last year including two Final Four Teams (Wisconisn, Dec. 23, and North Carolina, Jan. 13). The Golden Eagles will play at least eight teams that recorded 20 or more wins during the 1999-2000 campaign.
Marquette Looking to Extend Streak Marquette hosts South Alabama looking to capture its 10th straight season-opening contest. Last year, the Golden Eagles registered a 62-43 win over Chicago State (Nov. 20, 1999) in their opening contest. The last time Marquette dropped a season opener was on Nov. 14, 1990, when it lost at Duke, 87-74, in the Preseason NIT. Below is a list on Marquette's last nine season-opening wins.
Date Opponent Result 11/22/91 Prairie View A&M W, 98-55 12/4/92 North Carolina A&T W, 84-43 11/26/93 at Amer. Puerto Rico W, 86-72 11/28/94 UNLV W, 82-74 (ot) 11/26/95 UW-Milwaukee W, 91-74 11/24/96 UW-Milwaukee W, 82-55 11/14/97 at Wisconsin W, 65-60 11/14/98 at Boston College W, 70-49 11/20/99 Chicago State W, 62-43More Info On The Opening Game Marquette's record in season openers is 69-14 and its record in home openers is 78-5. The Golden Eagles have not lost a season-opening game in the Bradley Center (13-0). The last time MU came out on the short end of a home opener was against St. Norberrt (49-47) on Dec. 4, 1957, a span of 42 seasons.
Three-Point Streak On the Line Marquette has made at least one three-point field goal in 347 consecutive games. The last game without a trey was against Wake Forest on Feb. 2, 1989. In the team's two exhibition games, Marquette shot 35.4 percent from the floor (11-of-31).
Numbers To Watch Brian Wardle is four field goals shy of reaching 400 in his career and two points from moving past Quentin Richardson into 11th place on the C-USA all-time scoring list ... Cordell Henry is five assists from reaching 200 in his career ... Oluoma Nnamaka is 16 rebounds shy of reaching 300 in his career.
Statistical Comparison (exhibition games)
Marquette South Alabama Scoring Avg. 84.5 ppg 70.5 ppg Scoring Def. 66.5 ppg 74.0 ppg Scoring Margin +18.0 ppg -3.5 ppg Rebounding Avg. 41.5 rpg 27.5 rpg Reb. Margin +9.0 rpg -6.0 rpg FG% 49.5% 47.0% Opp. FG% 40.3% 48.2% 3FG% 35.4% 54.2% FT% 60.0% 59.6%
BRIAN WARDLE WATCH Heading into the 2000-01 season, Marquette senior Brian Wardle holds down the No. 25 spot on MU's all-time scoring ladder with 1,146 points and is 12th on C-USA's all-time scoring derby. The following lists will chronicle his climb up both the school's and conference's career scoring chart.
Marquette All-Time Scoring Leaders
No. Player Years Points 19 Anthony Pieper 1993-97 1,234 Doc Rivers 1980-83 1,234 Earl Tatum 1972-76 1,234 22. Oliver Lee 1977-81 1,227 23. Kerry Trotter 1982-86 1,221 24 Robb Logterman 1990-94 1,201 25. Brian Wardle 1997-SA 1,146
C-USA All-Time Scoring Leaders
No Player (School) Years Points1. DeMarco Jonson (CHA) '96-98 1,763
2. Nate Johnson (LOU) '97-00 1,513
3. Danny Fortson (CIN) '96-97 1,367
4. Kenyon Martin (CIN) '97-00 1,279
5. Aaron Hutchins (MAR) '96-98 1,259
6. Carlos Williams (UAB) '96-97 1,236
7. Cedric Dixon (UAB) '96-98 1,232
8. DeJuan Wheat (LOU) '96-97 1,210
9. Jerald Honeycutt (TUL) '96-97 1,194
10. Damon Cobb (UAB) '96-99 1,175
11. Quentin Richardson (DPU) '99-00 1,147
12. Brian Wardle (MAR) '98-SA 1,146
MU's Top Offensive Scoring Efforts Under Tom Crean
Date Opponent Pts. 2/2/00 at Southern Miss 79 12/3/99 Western Michigan 76 3/8/00 vs. Houston 75 12/23/99 at Wisconsin 74 11/27/99 Wofford 74
