Marquette University Athletics
Marquette University
Saint Louis
No. 15 Men's Basketball Sinks Saint Louis, 68-64
2/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 5, 2003
By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Sports Writer
MILWAUKEE - Even after the worst shooting performance of his career, Dwyane Wade received the usual accolades.
"He's, I think, the best player in the country. He makes my job a lot easier," sophomore Travis Diener said after scoring a career-high 21 points as No. 15 Marquette edged Saint Louis 68-64 Wednesday night.
Forget Wade's 3-for-17 shooting performance, Diener said. Look at how he got his teammates open shots all night.
"He had a rough night shooting, but those are shots he'll hit next game," Diener said. "We played well and he struggled, but we don't win without him."
Marquette coach Tom Crean defended Wade before anybody could even ask about his misfires.
"Before I'm asked, I'll say this about Dwyane: It's very difficult to come in, be that age (21) and basically every night, every day he has the entire defensive game plan start with defending him," Crean said.
"That's a difficult challenge and I think the greatest strength Dwyane Wade has is he makes everyone around him better."
Crean said that whenever Wade leaves - and he fears it will be for the NBA's riches in a few short months - that "he'll leave here a winner."
Just like Wednesday night.
Saint Louis coach Brad Soderberg said his strategy of "flooding his side of the floor" with quick defenders worked as far as keeping Wade's offensive production in check. But there was no stopping Wade's eight rebounds or four assists, both team highs.
Robert Jackson scored 14 of his 15 points after halftime as the Golden Eagles won their eighth straight.
"Until somebody can stop their momentum, I think they can go on a long run," Soderberg said.
The Golden Eagles (16-3, 8-1 Conference USA) extended their home winning streak to 27 games despite getting just seven points from Wade.
After he hit one of two free throws with 5.8 seconds left to ice the victory, Wade stole the inbounds "roll" at midcourt, went in for a high-flying dunk and, fittingly, lost the ball on the way up.
 | We played well and he struggled, but we don't win without him. Travis Diener on Dwyane Wade |
The Billikens (8-11, 2-6) had their share of blunders, too, on the way to their eighth straight road loss.
After Anthony Drejaj's 3-pointer made it 67-64, Marquette's Scott Merritt threw the inbounds pass off a teammate's leg, and the Billikens had the ball with 21 seconds left.
Soderberg drew up a play for Drew Diener to take a 3, but it never materialized and Josh Fisher - whose defense flustered Wade all night - panicked and threw up an off-balance shot from inside the 3-point arc that never hit the rim.
"That's what I'm sick about because we simply did not execute a play that we practice all the time," Soderberg said. "And I called the play in the huddle, asked if there were any questions, there were none and then we just had a meltdown. That's what's going to keep me up tonight, I'll tell you that."
The Golden Eagles won despite being outshot 47 percent to 40 percent. Marquette made eight more free throws than the Billikens, who got 13 points from Chris Sloan and Marque Perry, 11 from Kenny Brown and 10 from Fisher.
Wade, who entered with a 22.8-point average, didn't score until his 360-degree dunk with 3:31 left in the fist half tied the game at 30.
Jackson got into early foul trouble and had just one point in the first half.
The Billikens, playing without forward Chris Braun, who aggravated a shoulder injury in practice, led by as many as 10 points in the first half before settling for a 34-32 halftime lead.
Travis Diener was 3-for-6 from the floor in the first half, but the rest of the Golden Eagles starters shot a combined 3-for-20. Diener's previous career high was 18 points against Notre Dame on Dec. 2, 2002.
Marquette finally took the lead for good midway through the second half, when Jackson sank a pair of free throws, Travis Diener hit another 3 and Scott Merritt had two free throws as the Golden Eagles grabbed a 52-47 lead.
