Marquette University Athletics
Marquette Basketball Faces Dayton On The Road
12/28/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2000
Site - Dayton, Ohio o Dayton Arena (13,455)
Tipoff - 7:07 p.m. CST
Radio - Marquette Basketball Radio Network (Steve "The Homer" True, Play-by-Play)
Television - Midwest Sports Channel (Pat Hughes, Play-by-Play, George Thompson, Analyst)
Probable Marquette Starters (subject to change) G #4 - Cordell Henry (Jr., 5-10, 160, Chicago, Ill.) 10.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.7 apg -- Leads team with 10 steals
G #22 - Brian Wardle (Sr., 6-5, 205, Clarendon Hills, Ill.) 16.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg -- Double-figure scorer in eight games
F #43 - Oluoma Nnamaka (Jr., 6-7, 218, Uppsala, Sweden) 8.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg -- Led team with 11 points vs. Wisconsin
F #2 - Odartey Blankson (Fr., 6-7, 205, Country Club Hills, Ill.) 6.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg-- No. 2 on team in rebounding, shared team honors with 6 vs. Wisconsin
C #35 - John Mueller (Sr., 6-10, 240, Cedarburg, Wis.) 2.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg -- Has started 40 of the team's last 41 games
Probable Dayton Starters
F #33 - Brooks Hall (So., 6-6, 205, 8.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg)
F # 5 - Nate Green (So., 6-6, 235, 9.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
C #23 - Yuanta Holland (Sr., 6-7, 220, 12.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg)
G #15 - David Morris (Jr., 5-10, 180, 7.5 ppg, 4.6 apg)
G #12 - Tony Stanley (Sr., 6-4, 200, 17.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg)
Series Notes -- Marquette holds a 20-11 advantage in the all-time series that started during the 1966-67 season ... Dayton has won the last two games of the series including an 63-60 decision at the Milwaukee Arena last year ... Saturday's game marks the fifth straight season that the two schools have met.
Game Info
After taking a break during the Christmas holidays, the Marquette basketball team plays its final game of 2000 Saturday evening when it ventures to the University of Dayton. The Dayton Arena (13,455) will serve as the site of the 32nd meeting between the Golden Eagles and Flyers and tipoff is slated for 7:07 p.m. (CST). The game will be televised by Midwest Sports Channel with Pat Hughes and George Thompson handling the play-by-play and analysis, respectively. Following the game vs. Dayton, Marquette's next game takes place on Saturday, Jan. 6, when it opens C-USA play at DePaul.
The Records
The Golden Eagles head into the Dayton test with a 5-4 record following a tough 52-47 loss at home to No. 16-ranked Wisconsin on Dec. 23. In that game, the Golden Eagles faced an 11-point deficit (21-32) with 14:26 remaining before battling back to narrow the gap to three points (42-45) with 1:52 left. However, the Badgers sank seven-of-eight free throws over the remainder of the contest to seal the outcome. Junior Oluoma Nnamaka led the team with 11 points and shared team-high honors with freshman Odartey Blankson with six boards. Senior Brian Wardle was the other Marquette player to finish with double digits with 10 points. MU did manage to hold UW to a season low in points, but the Badgers countered by holding its second straight foe to 47 points. The Golden Eagles failed to convert a three-point field goal in nine opportunities, ending a streak of 355 games where they had at least one trey to their credit.
Dayton has won five of its last six affairs and hosts Marquette with a record of 7-4. The Flayers' last outing was a decisive 91-68 win at Louisville on Dec. 23. Dayton received votes in both this week's USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Poll as well as the Associated Press rankings.
Marquette Tough on the Trey
After seeing its first two opponents shoot 39.2 percent (11-of-28) from three-point range, Marquette has held its last seven foes to a combined 25.6 percent (34-of-133). The Golden Eagles have held six opponents to 25 percent or less from three-point range including three to less than 20 percent. Against Wisconsin, MU held the Badgers to 25% from beyond the arc compared to its effort of 38.2% entering the contest. Through games played Dec. 27, Marquette was No. 1 in C-USA in three-point field goal percentage defense (.263).
Marquette 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 17-7 (16-5 at the Bradley Center, 1-2 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 most recently again at Michigan State (1995-99).
Tom Crean's Marquette Record 20-18/2nd season Tom Crean's Career Record 20-18/2nd season
Marquette Hitting The Boards</>
Marquette has outrebounded six opponents this season including four contests where it has finished with an advantage of 10 or more rebounds. In the UW contest, the Golden Eagles were outboarded by a 26-23 margin, just the third game this year where the opposition finished with an advantage in that category. The last time Marquette enjoyed an edge of 10 or more rebounds was the Western Carolina game (Dec. 20) when it registered a 41-26 bulge. The Golden Eagles hold a 36.1-30.1 per-game edge in rebounding and through games played Dec. 27, held down the No. 1 spot among C-USA teams in rebound margin. Since Tom Crean has been Marquette's head coach, the Golden Eagles have outrebounded 13 opponents by 10 or more caroms and show a 11-2 record in those contests.
Dayton Head Coach Oliver Purnell
Oliver Purnell (Old Dominion, `75) is in his seventh season as the head coach of the Dayton program where he owns a school record of 96-90. Last season, he guided the Flyers to a 22-9 record that included an NCAA berth. In 13 years of college coaching that includes stints at Radford (1988-89 through 1990-91) and Old Dominion (1991-92 through 1993-94), Purnell has a career record of 197-165.
Marquette Frosh Make an Impact
MU freshmen Odartey Blankson and Scott Merritt have played significant roles through nine games for the Golden Eagles. The duo is averaging 14.7 points and 11.1 rebounds per game with both players averag ing over 20 minutes per contest. Blankson is No. 2 on the team in rebounding (5.7 rpg) while Merritt is No. 3 (5.4 rpg).
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 (Wisconsin and North Carolina, Jan. 13). The Golden Eagles will play at least eight teams that recorded 20 or more wins during 1999-2000. Three MU opponents are in this week's Associated Press Top 25 Poll (#13 Wisconsin, #14 North Carolina, and #19 Cincinnati) while five others received votes.
Marquette Bench Answers The Call
After nine games, the Marquette bench owns a 149-116 scoring edge (16.6 ppg vs. 12.9 ppg) against the opposition reserves. The Golden Eagle bench has outscored their counterparts in six games, with Minnesota (16-19), Xavier (11-16) and Wisconsin (10-25) the only teams to have its subs score more than the MU subs.
Marquette and the Foul Line
A goal of this year's MU team is to get to the foul line more and the Golden Eagles have accomplished that after nine games, recording a total of 218 attempts from the charity stripe (24.2/per game) compared to 189 for the opposition (21.0/per game). MU has attempted 23 or more from the foul line in six games including 39 vs. UMASS, the most attempts by a Crean-coached MU squad, and 36 vs. Centenary. During Crean's tenure, the Golden Eagles stand 18-6 in contests when finishing with 15 or more free throw attempts. After nine games last year, MU had attempted 169 free throws (243 for opposition).
MU Tidbits
Through games played Dec. 27, Marquette ranked 21st in the nation in scoring defense (60.4 ppg) ... After nine games last season, the Golden Eagles had converted 100 free throws compared to 145 this year ... Wisconsin's 52 points tied the sixth-lowest opponent total against a Crean-coached Marquette team ... Marquette hit 15-of-18 from the foul line in the Wisconsin game, good for a season-high 83.3 percent mark, the second-highest mark ... The team's effort from the charity stripe was the second-highest performance by a Crean-coached team (.900, 9-of-10 vs. Wisconsin last year) ... Marquette's nine offensive rebounds in the Wisconsin contest snapped a streak of eight games where it had registered 10 or more offensive caroms ... The Golden Eagles' eight steals in the UW game marked the sixth game of the campaign with five or more thefts ... MU has held the opposition to 10 or fewer field goals in eight of 18 halves ... The Golden Eagles have outscored their opposition in the first half in six of nine contests and own a 28.1 -25.0 scoring edge after the opening 20 minutes of play.
Tune In to the Golden Eagles
Steve "The Homer" True and George Thompson are in their 10th season on the Marquette Basketball Radio Network. Milwaukee's WISN AM 1130 is the flagship station of the Marquette Basketball Radio Network. The network includes the following affiliates:
WFAW AM 940 (Fort Atkinson)Marquette Involved in Nailbiters
WRJQ AM 1570 (Appleton)
WCLO AM 1230 (Janesville)
WOMT AM 1240 (Manitowac)
WBKV AM 1470 (West Bend)
Of Marquette's five victories this year, three games have been decided by four or fewer points. In addition, the Golden Eagles took part in an overtime game against Minnesota where they came out on the short end of a 61-59 decision. So far this year, MU is 3-2 in games decided by five or fewer points and show a record of 7-8 during Coach Crean's tenure at Marquette.
This and That
Marquette has attempted more free throws than its opponents in five games and stands 4-1 in those contests, 11-1 during Crean's tenure as head coach ... Marquette has 27 blocked shots after nine games compared to 18 at the same stage last season ... The Golden Eagles have two or more blocked shots in every game this year.
