Marquette Basketball Plays Final Exhibition On Sunday Evening

Nov. 8, 2002

Milwaukee -- The 2002-03 Marquette men's basketball team plays its final exhibition game this Sunday (Nov. 10) when it entertains the Wisconsin All-Stars. The contest will be played at the Bradley Center and begin at 7:00 p.m. Sunday's game can be heard locally on WISN-AM (1130) with Steve "The Homer" True and Mike Thibault providing the play-by-play and analysis, respectively.

Head Coach Tom Crean and his squad opened the exhibition portion of the schedule with an 84-60 triumph over Team Nike on Saturday, Nov. 2. Leading the way for the Golden Eagles was junior guard Dwyane Wade with 21 points while senior forward Robert Jackson totaled 19 points and 16 rebounds. Junior front liner Scott Merritt rounded out the trio of double-figure scorers with 12 points. Marquette shot 54.5 percent from the floor, compared to Team Nike's 35.8 percent, and finished with a 46-28 edge in rebounding.

"I thought that after looking at the tape that the players got a feeling for the consistency that they have to have when it comes executing, especially on the defensive end," said Crean. I thought our rebounding was good but it has to get better. I thought that we scrambled on defense and covered a lot of ground but yet our technique and system is not where it needs to be.

"I didn't think that we ran for 40 minutes. At times, when we did run, we were able to get some over-the-tops to the big guys and the wings got some baskets. We have to have a commitment to running for the entire game if that's the type of team we have to be."

The bulk of the Wisconsin All-Star Team is comprised of players who either hail from the state or who played as collegians at various schools throughout the state. The roster definitely has a Marquette flavor to it with former players Ron Curry (1990-93), Dwaine Streater (1993-96) and Tyrone Baldwin (1989-90) comprising one-fourth of the 12-man roster.

"I think that it will be good for our players because our guys know the former players and it will be fun for the fans to see them," said Crean. "At the same we have a job to do. We've have to get a lot of things accomplished because we will be just a few days away from our season opener."

Marquette opens the regular season against Villanova on Friday, Nov. 15, at Madison Square Garden in the AT&T Wireless Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. The game against the Wildcats starts at 5:30 p.m. (CST) and will be televised by ESPN2.

For ticket information regarding Marquette men's basketball, please call 414/288-7127.