Game Preview - February 18 vs. Pittsburgh
On Saturday, the 9th ranked Pittsburgh Panthers will come to the Bradley Center for a rematch with the Golden Eagles. The two teams met on January 28 at Pittsburgh, in a physical game that saw Pitt come away with a six point victory. Marquette has gone 2-2 since that game, most recently picking up a 57-51 win over Georgetown on Thursday night. The game will feature a halftime ceremony celebrating Maurice Lucas, in which his No. 20 jersey will be retired.
Senior Carl Krauser leads the charge for the Panthers, averaging 15.7 points and 4.4 rebounds. Marquette will also have to keep an eye on center Aaron Gray, who put up a career high 19 points in the last meeting. Look for Coach Tom Crean to employ the zone defense that was so effective in limiting the effectiveness of Hoyas center Roy Hibbert in the second half of Thursday's game. The student section will likely be very unkind to Antonio Graves after his unnecessary shove of Dominic James.
Offensively, Steve Novak will need to put in his usual strong perfomance. His ability to shoot from the perimeter will be crucial as always. If Dominic James can repeat his strong perfomance, without the shoulder injury, Marquette could have a very strong game. The Golden Eagles will also have Wes Matthews, who missed the first game with a stress fracture in his foot, and did not return until the next game against St. Johns. He plays strong defense and could make a large difference.
Marquette is hoping that the home court will make as big of a difference as it did against Georgetown. The home crowd was electric, and made a huge difference in the final five minutes of a game that the Golden Eagles likely would have lost had they been on the road. With a win against Pitt, they would improve to 8-5 in Big East play, and could move up as high as fifth in the conference standings if Seton Hall and Georgetown also lose today and tomorrow, respectively.
Senior Carl Krauser leads the charge for the Panthers, averaging 15.7 points and 4.4 rebounds. Marquette will also have to keep an eye on center Aaron Gray, who put up a career high 19 points in the last meeting. Look for Coach Tom Crean to employ the zone defense that was so effective in limiting the effectiveness of Hoyas center Roy Hibbert in the second half of Thursday's game. The student section will likely be very unkind to Antonio Graves after his unnecessary shove of Dominic James.
Offensively, Steve Novak will need to put in his usual strong perfomance. His ability to shoot from the perimeter will be crucial as always. If Dominic James can repeat his strong perfomance, without the shoulder injury, Marquette could have a very strong game. The Golden Eagles will also have Wes Matthews, who missed the first game with a stress fracture in his foot, and did not return until the next game against St. Johns. He plays strong defense and could make a large difference.
Marquette is hoping that the home court will make as big of a difference as it did against Georgetown. The home crowd was electric, and made a huge difference in the final five minutes of a game that the Golden Eagles likely would have lost had they been on the road. With a win against Pitt, they would improve to 8-5 in Big East play, and could move up as high as fifth in the conference standings if Seton Hall and Georgetown also lose today and tomorrow, respectively.
posted by Rob Stack @ 3:34 PM
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