Basketball to Host Michigan Tech in Exhibition Opener

Golden Eagles to begin preseason action

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MILWAUKEE ? With two exhibition contests in five days, Marquette head coach Tom Crean is trying to simulate a game week for his team before the season officially gets underway. In the first of those exhibition contests, Marquette takes on Michigan Tech at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 10 at the Bradley Center.

Crean's reasoning for playing two games so close together is to prepare his team for what the first 10 days of the season will be like. When play begins on Friday, November 18, Marquette will be playing on back-to-back days as part of the Pepsi Blue & Gold Classic. MU will follow that up with a trip to the Carrs Safeway Great Alaska Shootout half a week later, playing three times in four days.

"We're looking to develop a rhythm. We want to get them ready for a game week," Crean said. "We've got to develop that type of rhythm to be ready for the Blue & Gold and before heading to Alaska."

Regardless of how quickly Marquette's match-ups with Michigan Tech and Wisconsin-Whitewater are, Crean will know more about his team after the exhibition season.

"Right now, we are learning," Crean said. "The young guys are learning a lot. We're breaking that learning down into stages and these first two games are the first stage. The Blue and Gold is another stage and Alaska is another. We won't know a lot about rotations and starting lineups after Michigan Tech, but after Monday when we look at the stats from the first two games, we will be able to tell a lot more about where we are."

Acclimating his young squad to the rigors of regular season play is a priority for Crean, but he has others as well. Limiting turnovers and playing in front of a crowd for the first time are also high on the list for his squad that features six players who saw collegiate action last season.

"Getting our young guys ready is a priority," he said. "We have to build their confidence. It's going to take a game environment to get them more consistent. Practice is one thing, but the games are something else."

Michigan Tech will offer a solid opponent for Marquette. Gone are the team's two leading scorers from a year ago, but playing a consistent team is a bigger challenge then playing the all-star teams of the past in exhibition play.

"They lost quite a bit of their main scorers, but they still have plenty returning," Crean said. "They are a team that likes to look inside, look high and low, they space the floor well and they play well on defense. They should provide us with a good challenge."

Also an interesting aside to the contest, senior forward Steve Novak will be playing against his brother, Chris, a freshman at Michigan Tech.

"It's great that he gets the chance to come home and play," Steve Novak said of his brother. "I'm sure there will be some talk after the game about who won."

After Michigan Tech, Marquette hosts Wis.-Whitewater in another exhibition contest on Monday, November 14 at 7 p.m.
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