Marquette University Athletics
Marquette Basketball Team Travels To East Carolina
2/25/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2002
Game Date - Feb. 26, 2002
Site - Greenville, NC * Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (8,00)
Tipoff - 6:05 p.m. CST
Television - Seen Locally on WMLW-LP (Ch. 41), Steve "The Homer" True, Play-by-Play, George Thompson, Analyst
Radio - Marquette Radio Network (Bob Dolan, Play-by-Play)
Satellite Coordinates - GE-1, Transponder 22 (KU Band)
Probable Marquette Starters (subject to change)
G #4 - Cordell Henry (Sr., 5-10, 160, Chicago, Ill.) 15.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.00 apg -- Double-figure scorer in 10 of last 11 games -- 19.8 ppg in last four games
G #3 - Dwyane Wade (So., 6-4, 210, Oaklawn, Ill.) 18.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.53 apg -- 11 straight games of double-figure scoring
F #0 - Odartey Blankson (So., 6-7, 225, Hillcrest, Ill.) 8.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg -- No. 1 on team with 113 defensive rebounds
F #43 - Oluoma Nnamaka (Sr., 6-7, 225, Uppsala, Sweden) 7.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg -- 555 career rebounds -- 31st on Marquette all-time list
F #5 - Scott Merritt (So., 6-10, 245, Wauwatosa, Wis.) 6.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg -- Team-high eight rebounds vs. Cincinnati
Probable East Carolina starters (subject to change)
F # 3 - Kenyatta Brown (Sr., 6-4, 185, 11.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
F #33 - Erroyl Bing (So., 6-6, 250, 13.1 ppg, 8.7 rpg)
F #51 - Gabriel Mikulas (So., 6-8, 220, 12.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg)
C #25 - Moussa Badiane (Fr., 6-10, 215, 6.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
G #42 - Travis Holcomb-Faye (Jr., 6-1, 175, 8.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
Series Notes - Marquette captured the first-ever meeting between the schools earlier this year (Feb. 6) by a 70-58 margin at the Bradley Center. Sophomore Dwyane Wade (24 pts.) and senior Cordell Henry (16 pts.) paced the team's scoring attack while sophomore Odartey Blankson notched 14 points along with a team-high nine rebounds in the win.
Did You Know -- That Marquette's 5-1 record thus far in the month of February is the best six-game record for the month since the 1995-96 campaign when that club also posted a 5-1 slate.
Statistical Comparison
Marquette East CarolinaScoring Avg. 73.9 ppg 65.5 ppgScoring Def. 59.4 ppg 70.3 ppgScoring Margin +14.5 ppg -5.2Rebounding Avg. 36.0 rpg 34.9 rpgReb. Margin +5.3 -0.9FG% 47.6% 39.2%Opp FG% 39.5% 45.0%3 Pt. FG% 38.3% 31.2%FT% 68.8% 69.1%Game Info
After seeing its 12-game win streak snapped at No. 4-ranked Cinncinati last Friday, the Marquette basketball team looks to get back on the winning track on Tuesday (Feb. 26) when it plays its final regular-season conference road game at East Carolina. Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (8,000) will serve as the site of the second-ever meeting between the Golden Eagles and Pirates and game time is 6:05 p.m. (CST). The game will be televised locally by WMLW-LP (Ch. 41). Steve "The Homer" True will handle the play-by-play duties while George Thompson provides analysis. On the Marquette radio network side, Bob Dolan will serve as the play-by-play man.
Following the East Carolina contest, Marquette will close out the regular season on Friday, Mar. 1, when it hosts DePaul starting at 8:05 p.m. (CST) in an ESPN television contest. The game against the Blue Demons will be Senior Night with Marquette recognizing Cordell Henry, Oluoma Nnamaka, Jon Harris and David Diggs for their contributions to the program during their careers.
The Records
Marquette enters Tuesday's game with an overall record of 23-4, 12-2 in Conference USA action, second in the American Division. Marquette is ranked No. 9 in both this week's USA Today/ESPN and Associated Press polls.
The Golden Eagles saw their 12-game win streak snapped last Friday when they came out on the short end of an intense 63-62 decision at Cincinnati.
Marquette battled back from two major deficits during the game, first falling behind by a 20-4 margin 8:34 into the game before rallying to tie it at 22-22 with 4:55 left in the first half. However, UC responded with a 12-2 spurt over the remainder of the half to assume a 34-24 lead at the intermission. After a Bearcat basket in the opening moments of the second half upped its lead to 12 points, MU roared back with a 16-2 run, with six points coming from Dwayne Wade and five by Oluoma Nnamka, to take a 40-38 lead with 14:39 left. Eventually, a short jumper by freshman Travis Diener gave the Golden Eagles a four-point lead with 30 seconds left, but a UC three-pointer and a 16-foot jumper by the Bearcats' Donald Little with three ticks on the clock gave the lead back to the hosts. Marquette had the last shot, but a long attempt by Cordell Henry just missed the mark. Wade led four MU double-figure scorers with 19 points while Henry totaled 13. Scott Merritt (8 rebs.) and Travis Diener each chipped in 10 points.
East Carolina hosts MU with an overall record of 11-16, 4-10 in C-USA. ECU topped Houston, 63-46 last Saturday.
Numbers To Watch
Senior Oluoma Nnamaka's 555 career rebounds are good for 31st place on the school's all-time chart and he is four boards shy of moving into 29th place and seven from moving into 28th ... Nnamaka is also 23 points from reaching 900 during his career ... Cordell Henry (404 career assists), currently 7th all-time at MU in assists, is five shy of moving into sixth position and six from moving into fifth place ... Dwyane Wade (96 field goals) is four field goals shy of from establishing a school record for most field goals in a season in C-USA games.
Marquette Head Coach Tom Crean
Tom Crean is in his third season as the head coach of the Golden Eagles' program. Last year, he directed the program to a record of 15-14 including a 9-7 mark in C-USA play, good for third place in the American Division. The nine wins in the conference marked the most wins by a Marquette team in C-USA since 1996-97 when that team posted a 9-5 showing. Included in the team's victory total from a year ago were sweeps of American Division foes Cincinnati, DePaul and Saint Louis, along with a key triumph at Memphis. The sweep against UC marked the first time a C-USA team had come away with a regular-season sweep against the Bearcats, while the wins over SLU marked the first time since 1997 that the Golden Eagles had swept that series.
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 36-10 (34-8 at the Bradley Center, 2-2 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 53-32/3rd season Tom Crean's Career Record 53-32/3rd season
Marquette Among National Leaders in Stat Categories
Through games played Feb. 23, Marquette found itself among the national leaders in several statistical categories. The Golden Eagles were No. 7 in scoring defense (59.4 ppg) and No. 9 in scoring margin (+14.5). In addition, MU was 22nd in FG% (.476). Helping MU on the defensive end of the floor is the fact that it has limited opponents to less than 10 field goals in 23 halves and recorded 17 halves of holding opponents to less than 35 percent from the floor.
The scoring margin has been bolstered with MU winning 17 of its 23 games by 10 or more points including 10 by 15 or more.
More On MU's Defense
The Golden Eagles have held opponents to 50 or fewer points on six occasions and own 15 outings of holding a foe to 60 or fewer points. MU has won its last 18 games when holding opponents to 60 or fewer points and owns a 30-4 record in such games during Tom Crean's tenure as head coach.
Rebound Notes
Through 27 games, Marquette has outrebounded 17 opponents (16-1) and holds a 36.0-30.7 per-game edge in rebounding. Through games played Feb. 24, MU is No. 3 among C-USA teams in rebound margin (+5.3) in overall play. Since Crean has been head coach, MU has outrebounded 52 of 85 foes, showing a 43-9 record in those games.
Playing With the Lead
Marquette has demonstrated the ability to play with a lead this year and posts a 18-0 record when leading at halftime. During Crean's stint as head coach, Marquette stands 38-7 in those contests.
East Carolina Head Coach Bill Herrion
Bill Herrion (Merrimack College, '81) is in his third season as head coach of East Carolina and owns a school record of 35-48. In 11 campaigns as a college head coach, which includes an eight-year stint at Drexel, Herrion has a career mark of 202-119. He has guided his teams to a total of six 20-plus win seasons during his career as a head coach.
More Notes From Cincinnati
Marquette turned the ball over just nine times in the UC game, the third time in the last six games and the fourth time all season that it finished in single digits in that category ... The eight free throw attempts represented the second-fewest attempts in a league game by the Golden Eagles this year ... Marquette knocked down six treys against the Bearcats, tying the second-highest total in a league game this season ... Cincinnati finished with nine blocked shots, the most by a Marquette opponent this season ... The UC game marked MU's fourth contest of the season that had been decided by five or fewer points (MU is 3-1 in such contests).
Tom Crean Radio and Television Show Information
The Tom Crean Radio Show can be heard Monday evenings on WISN Radio (1130 AM). The show runs from 7:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., and is hosted by the voice of Marquette Basketball, Steve "The Homer" True. The Tom Crean Television Show made its season debut on Saturday, Jan. 5, on WDJT-TV (Ch. 58). The nine-week show will air every Saturday on WDJT-TV. Consult your local listings for more information.
More Tidbits To Ponder
Marquette is averaging 75.3 points and shooting 48.5 percent from the field in its 23 victories compared to a point average of 65.5 and shooting mark of 42.5 percent in its losses ... MU has held its last 16 opponents to less than 50 percent from the field with seven of those shooting less than 40 percent ... The Golden Eagles are 10-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor this year, 19-4 during Coach Crean's tenure at MU ... In the last five games, MU is shooting 44.4% (24-54) from three-point range vs. 29.6 percent (29-98) for the opposition ... Marquette is averaging 33.7 points during the first half of play and 40.1 during the second half ... Opponents are averaging 29.1 points during the first 20 minutes of action and 30.2 in the second half ... Marquette has outscored the opposition in 43 of 54 halves this year ... Marquette is averaging 12.7 offensive rebounds per outing vs. the opposition's mark of 11.4 ... Marquette has held 53 of its last 56 opponents to less than 50 percent from the floor ... MU is 10-0 when registering 15 or more assists this year, 23-3 during Crean's tenure as coach ... In the last five games, Marquette has 41 steals compared to 26 for opponents ... MU has forced opponents to turn the ball over 20 or more times in 11 contests this year ... MU's 15-0 record in home games is the longest home win streak since a 23-game skein, Feb. 21, 1995 through Dec. 6, 1996 ... 13 of Marquette's 17 40-point halves this year have come during the second half ... In the last five games, MU enjoys a 69.0-58.5 per-game scoring edge ... MU has 97 blocked shots this season compared to last year's season-ending total of 67 ... MU has outscored the opposition in the second half in 25 of 27 contests.
Inside the Numbers
Marquette has outshot 22 of 27 opponents from the floor this year and has a 22-0 mark in those outings, 45-9 during Crean's tenure at MU ... In MU's 14 conference games, the Golden Eagles are shooting 46.8 percent (353-of-755) from the field, good for the No. 1 spot in the league, vs. 39.9 percent (312-of-782) for opponents, No. 2 in FG% defense ... After 27 games, Marquette is averaging 14.2 turnovers per game compared to the opposition's mark of 17.8 ... In its 23 victories, MU enjoys a 36.7-29.9 per-game edge in rebounding ... In its four losses, MU is being outboarded by a 35.5-31.8 margin ... Marquette has turned the ball over less than its opponent in 19 contests ... MU saw a 21-game streak of double-digit offensive rebounds come to an end in the Cincinnati game (Feb. 2) when it finished with 8 ... Marquette is averaging 73.9 points through 27 outings compared to 65.4 points at the same juncture last year ... After 27 games last season, MU had 134 steals vs. this year's 27-game total of 244 ... The Golden Eagles have already surpassed last year's 29-game steal total of 144 ... MU has 140 treys to its credit this season compared to 131 after 27 games a year ago ... Marquette's 17 steals in the Texas Southern game were the most by a Crean-coached Marquette team and the most by a Golden Eagle team since Dec. 6, 1996, when they registered 18 thefts against Prairie View A&M ... During Crean's tenure as head coach, Marquette has a 11-2 won-lost slate when shooting 30 or more free throws (1-0 in '99-00, 5-2 in 2000-01 and 5-0 in '01-02) ... Marquette has held 13 opponents to less than 40 percent from the floor and stands 12-1 in those affairs ... The Golden Eagles have shot 40 percent or better from beyond the arc in 13 contests (12-1).
