Marquette University Athletics
Marquette University
Oral Roberts
Men's basketball tops ORU, 73-70
2/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2005
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Point guard Dominic James led four Marquette players in double figures with 15 points as the Golden Eagles held off Oral Roberts for a 73-70 victory in the first semifinal of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout at Sullivan Arena.
"I feel like we have to be a team in order to get where we want to be," James said. "It can't be one guy. We've just got to keep playing together and emphasizing that and if we do that, we can get to the places we need to be."
James also dished eight assists for MU (3-1), while ORU (1-2) came up short despite the monster effort of forward Caleb Green, who had 28 points and 12 rebounds.
"We just want to put people in position," Crean said of MU's problems with the press break. "Short passes, long passes. Really, I think where our turnovers came we could have broken the pressure without the pass."
The Golden Eagles used a late 11-0 run to take a 66-55 lead after neither team could build more than a 6-point advantage for the first 35 minutes. ORU made a late charge behind a pair of three-pointers by guard Ken Tutt (21 points, 5-17 FG), but Jonathan Bluitt's desperation trey didn't come close in the final seconds.
The victory puts Marquette back in the Shootout title game after winning it all in 2001. MU is now 7-1 all-time at the Shootout. The Golden Eagles will face South Carolina in the title game on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. CT.
Forwards Steve Novak and Ousmane Barro scored 12 points apiece for MU, while Dan Fitzgerald scored 11 points off the bench. Novak led MU with nine rebounds.
