Golden Eagles Open Play At BIG EAST Championship Wednesday
3/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 10, 2008
2008 BIG EAST Championship Guide (PDF) 
The Marquette University men's basketball team returns to the BIG?EAST?Championship presented by Aeropostale for the third-straight season. The Golden Eagles have earned the No. 6 seed in the 12-team event and will play No. 11 seed Seton Hall Wednesday night at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN. The national television broadcast will be Marquette's 14th in 2007-08. Dan Shulman (play-by-play) and Len Elmore (analyst) will call the action from Madison Square Garden. The Golden Eagles will be making their second trip to "The World's Most Famous Arena" this season. Marquette defeated St. John's 73-64 in the building on Feb. 20. The winner of the MU/SHU matchup will advance to face No. 3 seed Notre Dame Thursday night at 8 p.m. Marquette split the season series with the Fighting Irish.
Tournament History Provides Mixed Results
Marquette's conference affiliations date back to the 1989-90 campaign, making the program's postseason tournament experiences rather limited in number.
The Golden Eagles are 13-17 overall in league tourneys, competing in events associated with the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, Great Midwest Conference, Conference USA and BIG?EAST Conference. MU's lone title came in 1997 when the squad claimed four victories en route to the C-USA Tournament Championship. Marquette is 1-2 all-time in BIG EAST action.
Marquette has earned the No. 6 seed for the second-straight season. In 2006-07, MU defeated No. 11 St. John's 76-67 before falling the next night to No. 3 Pittsburgh, 89-79.
The Golden Eagles concluded the regular season tied with West Virginia for fifth place, but WVU's victory in the only meeting between the two programs secured the No. 5 seed for the Mountaineers.
Defense On Display When MU/SHU Matchup
The Golden Eagles and Pirates rank first and second, respectively, in the BIG EAST in steals per game.
Marquette is averaging 9.83 thefts per contest through games of March 8, while Seton Hall collects 9.71 per outing. The two teams feature a total of four players ranked among the top 13 in the league in that category as well. MU's 295 steals as a team this season match the total in 2006-07, which is the second best in school history since the 1979-80 season.
In the two meetings this season, neither team shot better than 38 percent from the field in the pair of matchups combined. MU did connect on 38.8 percent (19-of-49) of its long distance attempts as opposed to just a 22.2 percent clip (8-of-36) by Seton Hall.