Men's basketball faces Winthrop in Classic final
11/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
November 19, 2005 - Marquette opened the 2005-06 regular season on Friday with an 82-65 victory over Rice in the opening round of the Pepsi Blue & Gold Classic. The win was the 13th straight for MU in the Classic dating back to 1998.
Freshman Dominic James led four MU playersin double-figures with 16 points and a game-high nine assists. Fellow freshman Jerel McNeal had 14 points, senior Steve Novak scored 13, and sophomore Ryan Amoroso added 10 points off the bench.
Advancing to its seventh consecutive Classic championship game, MU will face the Winthrop Eagles from the Big South Conference. The Eagles reached tonight?s final by defeating IUPUI, 73-50. Winthrop returns an experienced team from last year's squad that made noise in the postseason. Three juniors and a senior start for the Eagles. Junior Torrell Martin scored 13.1 points per game last season and senior James Shuler added 12.1 per game.
Marquette is led by head coach Tom Crean, who is in his seventh season and owns a 122- 65 career record. Winthrop?s head man is Greg Marshall won is in his eighth season and owns a 143-70 career record.