Marquette University Athletics
Men's Basketball Beats Team Nike, 86-77
11/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Marquette beat Team Nike 86-77 behind 23 points by Scott Merritt, but coach Tom Crean was anything but satisfied after his team's exhibition opener.
"We're really behind because we're spending so much time on trying to get people to understand how hard they have to play, how hard they have to work," Crean said.
The Golden Eagles are coming off a season when, led by Dwyane Wade, they won the Conference USA title and reached the NCAA Final Four, finishing with a 27-6 record.
Now they have to regroup without Wade, who left for the NBA after his junior year.
"For us to get better, it's going to take a while," Crean said. "We're going to be sloppy for a while. We're not going to be where we need to be for a while."
It didn't help Thursday night that point guard Travis Diener sat out the second half with an ankle injury after scoring nine points in the first half.
Crean said Diener's injury was day-to-day, and he pulled him from the game "because it was not in his best interest to play."
Steve Novak added 18 points for the Golden Eagles.
Kenny Williams had 27 points for Nike (0-3).
Although Marquette led 65-51 after a basket by Dameon Mason, Nike battled back to narrow the lead to one point at 69-68 on a basket by Marshall Sanders with 6:59 left.
But the Golden Eagles scored five straight points and Nike never got that close again.
Team Nike led 5-4 on a basket by Kenny Williams before Diener scored seven points in an 11-4 run to put the Golden Eagles in front for good at 15-9.
Marquette led 51-46 at the half after Nike's Jeff Boschee nailed a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
Merritt dominated at center and said he was glad to be more involved in the offense.
"It's a compliment that my teammates give me the ball," he said.
