Marquette University Athletics
Marquette-Missouri Preview
3/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 21, 2003
From the Associated Press
GAME: No. 6 Missouri (22-10) vs. No. 3 Marquette (24-5).
REGIONAL: Midwest, second round.
TIME: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EST.
SITE: RCA Dome; Indianapolis.
Travis Diener showed Marquette is more than just Dwyane Wade.
The sophomore point guard now hopes to help his team to the regional semifinals for the first time in nine years as the Golden Eagles play Missouri.
Diener more than picked up the slack for Wade offensively in the first round Thursday, scoring a career-high 29 points as third-seeded Marquette outlasted No. 14 Holy Cross 72-68.
Diener, who did not practice the previous two days due to shin splints in his right leg, was 5-for-9 from beyond the arc and hit a back-breaking jumper as the shot clock wound down with 32 seconds to play to give the Golden Eagles a 66-62 lead.
"I got a few looks and I took them," Diener said. "It's not like I was looking to take bad shots. They just came."
Wade, the Conference USA player of the year, averages a team-high 21.2 points but went scoreless in the first half Thursday. He did score 15 points in the second half and made two clutch jumpers in the final minutes to keep the Crusaders at bay.
"Down the stretch, Travis and I had the ball in our hands," said Wade, who made all seven of his free throws. "We just tried to take good shots, it was a good time for our backcourt to step up and prove how good we are, we did that today."
It was also an off day for center Robert Jackson, who is second on the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game, but was held to four before fouling out. The Golden Eagles received a spark off the bench from their freshmen guards as Steve Novak and Joe Chapman combined for four 3-pointers and 14 points.
Marquette has not been to the round of 16 since 1994.
Missouri (22-10) also clawed its way into the second round, edging No. 11 Southern Illinois 72-71. Rickey Paulding's aggressive drive to the basket drew a foul with 4.1 seconds to play, and the 6-foot-5 junior sank the second of two free throws for the winning margin.
"I'm glad it went my favor," said Paulding, who had 19 points and nine rebounds. "I just wanted to drive to the basket and be aggressive. Fortunately the ref made the call. ... He made the right call."
Center Arthur Johnson had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Tigers, who committed a season-high 23 turnovers.
"When you're not playing your best basketball, emotion and toughness are what you have to dip into to win," Tigers coach Quin Snyder said. "I thought that's what was fueling us. In our timeouts, the last huddles, I thought, 'You can't be fatigued. You can't allow yourself to be fatigued in the NCAAs."'
The Tigers are trying to reach the regional semifinals for the second straight year. They advanced to the West Regional final as a No. 12 seed in 2002 before losing to conference rival Oklahoma.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Missouri - F Travon Bryant, F Paulding, C Johnson, G Ricky Clemons, G Jimmy McKinney. Marquette - F Todd Townsend, F Scott Merritt, C Jackson, G Wade, G Diener.
TEAM LEADERS: Missouri - Paulding, 17.1 ppg; Johnson, 9.3 rpg; Clemons, 3.7 apg. Marquette - Wade, 21.2 ppg; Jackson, 7.3 rpg; Diener, 5.6 apg.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Missouri - At-large bid, Big 12; beat No. 11 Southern Illinois 72-71, first round. Marquette - At-large bid, Conference USA; beat No. 14 Holy Cross 72-68, first round.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: Missouri - 18-20, 21 years. Marquette - 29-23, 23 years.
