Men's Basketball Hosts DePaul at the Bradley Center

Teams meet for second time in eight days

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MILWAUKEE ? When the Marquette men's basketball team meets DePaul on Wednesday, January 25 at 7 p.m. at the Bradley Center, it will be the second meeting in eight days between the two teams.

In that first meeting, Marquette posted 49 first half points and played one of its best halves of the season. In the second half, DePaul nearly caught Marquette as the Golden Eagles played less than their best basketball.

"It was a game where we got off to a great start, but relaxed a bit in the second half," Crean said. "For us to get to the highest level, we have to learn how to play a 40 minute game. There's still a lot of season left to be played and we are a young team. For us to get to where we want to be, we have to learn to play a full game.""

In DePaul, Marquette will be taking on a team that has struggled in wins and losses recently, but have been very close, losing their last two games by a combined four points. The Blue Demons bring junior guard Sammy Mejia, who has averaged more than 18 points per game over the last 13 games. He scored 30 against DePaul and had 24 points in the two team's last meeting.

DePaul may be without the services of freshman center Wilson Chandler, the Blue Demons leading rebounder. He missed the last couple of games, but he has been practicing and Crean is expecting to see Chandler in the lineup.

"It's totally (DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright's) call," Crean said. "He's one of the best freshmen in the league. He impacts a game so much. We're preparing as if we're going to see him play."

In Marquette's favor, they will be playing with the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week in senior forward Steve Novak and Rookie of the Week in guard Dominic James. Despite receiving the league honors, Crean states that the honors come based on the rest of the team plays.

"The awards come as the people around them play," Crean said. "They don't come unless the guards are driving to the basket, the big players are setting screens and everyone is doing a good job of improving."

Novak is second in the BIG EAST in scoring at 23.5 points per game. He tweaked his foot in practice on Sunday, but said he is fully ready to go against DePaul.

"I turned it a little in practice," he said. "But we're being smart with it and it will be alright for tomorrow."

Novak and the rest of the Golden Eagles will be riding a wave of confidence that has led them to a 4-2 conference record and a spot as the no. 5 team in the standings early in the season. Novak said the team didn't listen to any early season skeptics that said this team couldn't win this many games in a difficult league.

"Skeptics said that we'd have a good year if we won three or four games and we were out to prove them wrong," Novak said. "Sometimes, it's great to fly under the radar like that."

Crean attests that the team didn't listen to any of the preseason nay-sayers and the team looked to itself for what it could and couldn't do.

"It all comes down to your own expectations," he said. "The best days we have is when they come in to get better. If you have enough days where guys are competitive and try to improve on their weaknesses and use their strengths, than you can go far."

The meeting between the two schools is the 103rd in series history with Marquette owning a 60-42 advantage.
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