Red-Hot Marquette Visits Tulane on Tuesday
Jan 28, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2002
NEW ORLEANS, La. - While Super Bowl talk engulfs the city of New Orleans, Tulane University will be thinking basketball, in the form of a key Conference USA men's game on Tuesday night against Marquette University. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Fogelman Arena.
The game will be available on the radio on WTIX 94.3 FM or on WTIX 690 AM. Jim Freeman provides the play-by-play. All Tulane radio broadcasts are available on the internet as well, by visiting www.TulaneGreenWave.com.
Marquette comes into Tuesday's game with a 17-3 overall mark and a 6-1 C-USA record. The Golden Eagles have won six straight and own impressive wins this year over Tennessee, Indiana, Gonzaga and Dayton.
Tulane, meanwhile, has dropped two straight games - on Tuesday against South Florida and this past Saturday at UAB, 80-63.
Junior Brandon Brown continues to lead the way for the Green Wave, despite increased defensive pressure. The 6-8 Houma native has 15.6 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game, both team highs. Brandon Spann has scored in double figures in the last six games and is averaging 17.0 points over the last two outings. He connected on his 100th career three-pointer on Saturday at UAB. The lone senior on the roster, Linton Johnson, made his first start of the season against UAB and responded with his 10th career double-double with 18 points and 10 boards.
"We are coming off probably our worst week of the year," Tulane head coach Shawn Finney said. "We played our worst game of the season Saturday night. And UAB played really well. That is a tough combination on the road."
"When we shoot the ball well, we are a much better offensive and a better defensive team," Finney said. "Marquette does a good job of taking you out of things you want to execute. The question is if we do not shoot well, how hard will we play on defense?"
The Green Wave has shot 50 percent or better from the field nine times this season, winning all of those games while holding opponents to 39.3 percent shooting. In the games in which the Wave has shot below 50 percent, opponents have buried 49.7 percent of their shots, including five games of 50 percent or better.
The key to Marquette has been the play of its backcourt. Newcomer Dwyane Wade, a sophomore who was ineligible last year has established himself as one of the premier players in Conference USA. He leads the Golden Eagles in scoring (17.9 ppg), rebounding (6.9 rpg), assists (75), steals (48) and blocked shots (23).
After seeing his team defeated by Marquette on Saturday, Saint Louis head coach Lorenzo Romar had this to say about Wade, "He is a guy who sat out last year and came in from day one and established himself as a great scorer. He is all over the floor, he is blocking shots, getting steals, but he is also a dynamic scorer. He can score in transition, he can get offensive rebounds and he is a great slasher."
Marquette head coach Tom Crean credits teammate Cordell Henry, as well as Wade for his team's success thus far, "Dwyane is getting better all the time. There are a lot of great players in this league and he has potential to be one of them, as does Cordell Henry. You have to get good guard play to have a good team and that is what they are both doing. What Dwyane is learning is that when you do not get things done offensively, you can still do it defensively. He is really maturing."
"Marquette is going to be a tough challenge," Finney continued. "They are playing as well as anybody in the league, they have a lot of offensive weapons and they are playing well defensively."
Henry averages 13.9 points per game and is tied for the team-lead in three-pointers with 33. Travis Diener has also buried 33 shots from long-range. Odartey Blankson, a 6-7 sophomore, averages 9.8 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field, while veteran big man Oluoma Nnamaka has started every game and averages 7.9 points and 4.5 rebounds.
Tulane has another home game on Saturday, hosting Southern Miss at 2 p.m. at Fogelman. Then on the afternoon of Super Bowl Sunday, the Wave departs for Memphis, facing the Tigers on Monday night at the Pyramid.
Tickets for all Tulane home events are available by calling 504-861-WAVE, or by visiting the Green Wave box office at the Wilson Center.
