Marquette-Connecticut Preview
As a Marquette Senior, the match-up with UCONN is a little extra special. I was a freshman on winter break when Marquette had its first BIG EAST game. UConn was the #2 team in the land and they were led by an all-star cast of Josh Boone, Rudy Gay and Hilton Armstrong. And if that wasn’t enough to scare most teams away, Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun was prowling the sidelines for the Huskies.
But with the heroic efforts of senior forward Steve Novak’s 41 points and 16 rebounds, the Golden Eagles were mightier than the Huskies. The entire east coast was up in arms that a former C-USA team, which was 3 years removed from the Final 4, could embarrass the “Old Guard” of the nation’s best college basketball conference.
On a side note, I personally believe that Marquette not being ranked at all that season was a huge slap in the face to a program that finished 4th in the BIG EAST.
But let’s flash forward to tonight’s match-up. Once again UCONN is ranked #2 in the nation. Yet again the Huskies are led by a powerful front court and a group of likely NBA Lottery picks. However, this Marquette team has a few leaders of its own.
They were just freshmen at the time. But this year the 3-guard combo of Dominic James, Wes Matthews and Jerel McNeal accounts for over 50 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists a game. But who fills that forward position from their freshman year that Steve Novak vacated? Why that would be match-up nightmare Lazar Hayward, who averages 16 points and nearly 9 rebounds per game.
Marquette has also attained respect from the National media since our Big 3 were freshmen in 2005. The Golden Eagles are a top 10 team. The magical tournament entry number of 20 wins was eclipsed weeks ago. McNeal and James are on National award watch lists. But most importantly of all, the Bradley Center crowd will be behind these 13 Warriors. This is the first time Marquette has sold out a weekday home game at the Bradley Center. Let that soak in for a second. Dwyane Wade couldn’t even sell out the BC (…on a weeknight)!
So if you haven’t done it already, get your Fanatics t-shirt on, cheer loudly, and get ready to watch your team protect our 90 acre nation of 11,000 strong. Because when Connecticut walks onto the Al McGuire Court they’ll know that they’re in trouble and they’ll know that they’ve messed up, because they’ll hear a chant of 3 words:
WE ARE MARQUETTE
Ritchie Donnelly
MUTV Sports Director
GoMarquette gives us their official breakdown.
Also featured on GoMarquette are the (.pdf) Marquette-UConn Game Notes.
Our friends at Cracked Sidewalks brought the following articles to our attention:
USA Today write-up on Buzz
New York Times feature on Buzz
Tonight’s tip is at 6 CT and MUTV will be there. Marquette Radio has the call, starting with a pregame at 5:30. Tune in LIVE to hear the call.