Wade Spreading Christmas Cheer

When Dwyane Wade heard the plight of a South Florida woman whose nephew accidentally burned down her home - and ruined all the family's possessions - the Miami Heat star knew he had to do something.

So he replaced the house.

Wade presented Dawn Smith with the ultimate Christmas gift on Wednesday - the keys to a new home, along with some furnishings, clothing and gifts to make sure her family has a joyous holiday, something that didn't seem likely just a few weeks ago.

"That's what I try to teach my kids," said Wade, whose foundation has hosted several charity events this holiday season, mostly for needy children. "It's not about what you're going to receive - it's what you can give to others from what you've received."

Smith couldn't hold back happy sobs when she saw the home for the first time.

"A big time relief," Smith said, clearly overcome by emotion. "Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Oh, God, thank you so much."

The NBA's leading scorer this season had a simple message: "Hopefully, you'll like it."

Wade's other holiday events this year included a party for 350 children on Monday, and hosting 100 kids at Tuesday night's Heat game against the Golden State Warriors. He also donated US$10,000 to each of three children's organizations, but said he was particularly touched by his gift to the Smith family.

"We can help this family have a new beginning," Wade said.

-Associated Press

The Selfless Maturation of a Point Guard

Last night’s winning shot was not a career-defining moment for Dominic James. It was not a dramatized symbol of his time at Marquette. In fact, his clutch winning shot should not have come as a surprise to Golden Eagle fans. For four years in the Blue and Gold-clad uniform, Dominic James has been Mr. Consistent.

Eavesdrop on a conversation consisting of faithful Marquette fanatics. It is a safe bet that you will hear them mercilessly wanting more out of Dominic. MU fans are tireless in being critical of their fearless leader. They expect outstanding statistical performances from James. They demand nights where he should shoot “lights out” to pace all scorers. These demands stem from his outstanding freshman campaign that saw ‘Nic shatter Doc Rivers's 25-year old school record for points scored as a Freshman, with 473. He was named 2005-06 Big East Rookie of the Year and scored in double figures for 25 of Marquette's 31 games.

Fans of this year's team are naturally inclined to look at Dominic’s early career output and question, with the team’s current offensive binge, why James is not putting up career numbers this season. If you have watched any of Marquette’s games in 2008, you have seen an outpouring of offense averaging 81.2 points a game. Wes Matthews matched his career high in points, then broke it--twice. Lazar Hayward set his new career high with an earth-shattering 27 against Western Carolina. And Jerel McNeal is easily averaging the best point per game totals of his career, with 17.8 points per contest. Some are waiting for Dominic to take his share of the offensive success and become the Big East’s leading scorer.

Keep waiting.

Dominic's point production has dropped each season at Marquette. So have his turnovers. James's assist to turnover ratio has risen from 1.92 a game in the 2005-06 campaign to 2.71 in 2007-08. The fact of the matter is that Golden Eagle fans have the true honor of watching a point guard who quickly learned that an offense is a product of his decision-making. He could easily rip 25 shots a night. But James does not. In fact, his highest output of the season came last night in North Carolina, when he attempted 14 shots from the field. He made seven of those. It is hard to argue with a guy who, with regard to the night, said "I was feeling it."

That was a rarity for the now-selective Dominic James. He is shooting less than ten shots a game this season. Yet his team is off to a 10-2 start, and he has more assists at this point in the season than any of his previous years.

Four for years, Marquette fans have had the pleasure of watching a point guard who has been through the highs and lows of four years at one of America's most storied college basketball programs. He left for the NBA draft. Then he came back. Then his coach left. Fans were sure he was gone. He stayed. He now has a chance to lead his team back to the NCAA Tournament for the last time. The ball is in his hands. He knows it. And that is why when Dominic James's career is over, and his number one jersey is raised to the rafters of the Bradley Center, Marquette fans will remember their skilled confident point guard for many things. But it will all come down to the one attribute that the offense around him thrived on.

Consistency.



Brad Galli
MUTV Assistant Sports Director

Brad Galli is a sophomore in the College of Communication, majoring in Broadcast & Electronic Communication. He serves as the Assistant Sports Director of Marquette University Television (MUTV).

Marquette 68 North Carolina St. 65

Dominic James sank a game-winning three with 0.4 seconds to lead Marquette to a 68-65 comeback win over the Wolfpack of NC State.

James and Jerel McNeal stole the show in the second half, combining for 23 points after the break and finishing with 18 and 20 points, respectively, for the game.

NC State caused matchup problems early for the Golden Eagles, taking advantage of their height. Using four starters 6’5” or taller, the Wolfpack recorded 28 of their 65 points in the paint.

“More so than any of the other teams I’ve studied, NC State collectively has the best four post players I have seen,” said Marquette head coach Buzz Williams

Six-foot-nine junior forward Brandon Costner lead the Wolfpack with 24 points and 8 rebounds. Costner started off quickly and stayed hot, scoring NC State’s first 11 points. He shot lights out all game, going 9-of-10 from the floor and 5-of-5 from beyond the arc.

However, the key to the game for the Golden Eagles was their ability to create turnovers and convert them into points. Marquette’s speedy backcourt was too much for NC State, as the Golden Eagles recorded 8 steals, and scored 18 points off Wolfpack turnovers.

After overcoming an early seven-point deficit, Marquette took their first lead at 23-20 with 7:49 remaining in the first half. The two teams would engage in a seesaw battle for the duration of the contest. Marquette went into halftime down 35-32.

The Golden Eagles entered the second half with a better game plan on defense, cutting down on weak side scoring opportunities and giving help in the post on Costner and center Ben McCauley.
After giving up 4 quick points to the Wolfpack to start the second half, Marquette’s senior leaders, James and McNeal, showed poise in mounting a comeback. McNeal shot 5-of-8 from the floor in the second half while accumulating 3 steals. James shot 4-of-5 from the floor in the second half, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, while dishing out 4 assists.

After going ahead 53-52 with 8:47 to play, Marquette would remain on top until Costner hit a three-pointer to knot the game at 65 with 1:58 remaining.

Then came time for James’ late-game heroics, but not before he was set up by a huge defensive play from senior Dwight Burke. Burke stripped the ball from McCauley inside as the NC State player attempted to kick the ball back out to avoid a trap. The loose ball was scooped up by James, who dribbled towards the Marquette bench and called timeout with 25 seconds remaining.

After catching the inbound pass, James waited until there were about 5 seconds remaining before he beat a double team off the dribble to his left to get off the game-winning shot.

McCauley hit a Christian Laettner-type turnaround three as time expired, but the officiating crew determined from replay that he did not get the shot off in time.

The win is huge for a Marquette team fighting to get back into the AP Top 25, as the Golden Eagles will need as many non-conference wins as they can get when going up against a Big East Conference that many believe is the best in the country.

Mike Adelman
MUTV Sports, WMUR Sports

Dominic's Shot Heard Across the World

ESPN has it as a lead video highlight!


Brad Galli
MUTV Assistant Sports Director

Marquette-NC State Preview

The Golden Eagles will get out of the friendly confines of the Bradley Center and that rough Milwaukee weather as they travel to the state of North Carolina where they are a dismal three and twenty-eight all time. They will look to get a marquee win on the road tonight as they face the N.C. State Wolfpack. This could be a good road win that Marquette puts on their March Madness tournament resume as it will be tough to get a win on the road with the loaded Big East this year.

N.C. State’s lone loss of the season came from a miraculous performance by Stephen Curry and his Davidson Wildcats as he torched the Wolf pack for forty four points in a 72 67 victory as Lebron James was in attendance. But, the stars aren’t coming out for this game. This should be N.C. State’s toughest test of the season as they have played cupcake city thus far, which should go in favor of the Golden Eagles after playing Wisconsin at home and Tennessee at a neutral court so far this season.

The Wolfpack are sort of led by their own “big three” with the two bags in 6’9” center Ben McCauley averaging 15.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game and 6’9” forward Courtney Fells averaging 13 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, also they have some range from the outside in 6’6” senior guard Courtney Fells averaging 11.3 points per game and shooting 53% from the field this year. Even with the size advantage down low, Marquette has their own big three and one of them joined exclusive company at Marquette.

When senior guard Jerel McNeal grabbed his fifth and final rebound in the win over Western Carolina, he became a member of an exclusive group in Marquette’s history. The Chicago, Ill., native is the 21st player in the school’s record book to collect 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career. He currently owns 1,485 points (13th all-time) and 500 rebounds in 106 career games. Scott Merritt (2001-04) was the most recent player to accomplish the feat prior to McNeal. He capped his career with 1,049 points (34th) and 687 rebounds (13th). Senior Wesley Matthews is just nine boards short of joining the group.

But, the hottest player on Marquette’s team as of late is Lazar Hayward after he had a career night verse Western Carolina, capping a career high 27 points, 2-3 from beyond arch and a perfect 9-9 from the line to go along with five rebounds in a dominant performance. He will need to keep this play up with a tall front line of the Wolfpack if Marquette looks to pull out its first true road win of the season.

Marquette and NC State have met on just three occasions all-time, but the first meeting couldn’t have come on a bigger stage as it determined the 1974 national champion. The top-ranked Wolfpack claimed the title with a 76-64 win over MU in Greensboro Coliseum, led by the tourney’s most valuable player, David Thompson (21 points, seven rebounds). Former Marquette standout Maurice Lucas led three players in double figures with 21 points, earning a spot on the all-tournament team. MU would earn its own national title in 1977. The two programs also participated in a home-and-home series in 1990-91 and 1991-92, with each team winning on its respective home court.

The Marquette University men’s basketball team wraps up the road portion of its non-conference schedule when the squad travels to NC State for a 6 p.m. CT tip on ESPNU.

The Golden Eagles are making their first trip to Raleigh since the 1990-91 campaign in the team’s first true non-league road matchup of 2008-09. ESPNU will feature MU’s third national television broadcast of the year.

Todd Warner
MUTV Sports

Breann Hill Leaves Women’s Basketball Team

Junior forward Breann Hill has informed the coaching staff one week ago that she will leave the Women’s Basketball team and Marquette University for personal reasons. Head coach Terri Mitchell addressed Breanne’s situation before their 68-56 loss to UW-Green Bay on Saturday.

"Bre has decided to leave Marquette and move on with her collegiate basketball career. We enjoyed her time here at Marquette and wish her the best of luck in her future," said head coach Terri Mitchell.

Hill, a junior college transfer from Kirkwood Community College (Iowa), appeared in eight games for the Golden Eagles this season and averaged 3.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg over 9.4 mpg. She played a season-high 14 minutes against Sacred Heart (Nov. 16) where she scored six points and added five rebounds. She scored a season high eight points at Western Michigan (Nov. 23).

Hill had not appeared in a game since she logged 6 minutes against Northwestern back on December 2. With Jocelyn Mellen suffering a season ending knee injury earlier in the season, the Golden Eagles are now down to twelve healthy players on the roster.

The Women will be back in action on December 28th when they travel to Rochester, Michigan to take on Oakland University. Hear the game live on Marquette Radio (WMUR), with tip off set for 3:00 pm CST.

Marquette 94 Western Carolina 77: A Promising Step

Yes, it was against Western Carolina. Yes, it was against a team with inferior athletes. Yes, it was at home. Yes, they did let up a bit in the second half. But Friday night the Golden Eagles showed their fans, and more importantly themselves, that they were capable of a well rounded effort.

And guess what… they did it with a full roster (yes, celebratory high fives are acceptable).

Marquette dominated the Catamounts of Western Carolina Friday night, 94-77, in front of a crowd of 13,563 at the Bradley Center. MU was paced by the blazing hot hand of junior forward Lazar Hayward. Lazar was 8-13 from the field Friday night, and connected on all none of his free throw attempts. He was a one man wrecking crew. I don’t care how big or small someone is, if you can fill it up like that at this level, you can play. And Hayward is going to get his due if he keeps his torrid pace of scoring and rebounding up.

What was remarkable about this game though, was that the rest of the team did not stand by and watch Lazar put on a show. Jerel McNeal was unconscious from deep, knocking down five of the six threes he attempted, with 19 points and 5 assists. Wes Matthews did not even attempt a shot for the first seven minutes of the game, but he still found a way to finish with 18 points and 5 assists.

It gets better though.

Only one member of the Big 4 reached thirty minutes of playing time (Lazar). This in part was due to the host shooting the Golden Eagles put on the Catamounts, but there were also more bodies available… BIG ONES too. Bodies like 6’10”, 245 pound freshman Chris Otule, and 6’7” Joe Fulce. Both of which were surprisingly active when on the court. By no means were they the saviors off the bench that this team desperately needs, but they provided a glimmer of hope.

Otule is too robotic to be expected to contribute anything on the offensive end, but he is certainly capable of playing 10-12 minutes game. All that will be asked is snaring a few boards, blocking a shot or two, and using his five fouls to his advantage defensively. Fulce looks as if he can be a contributor. For a guy coming off a cracked knee cap, he ran and jumped well. At 15 minutes of playing time per game, Fulce could be the spark this team needs, but more importantly, a reliable body that can give Wes and Lazar a few extra minutes of rest.

It also would not hurt if Maurice Acker and Jimmy Butler gave similar performances to Friday night throughout the year. Maurice finished with 8 points, hitting two open three balls which he must do with consistency. Jimmy received some big minutes for the first time this year, putting up a solid 7 points and 6 rebounds. Those two alone can be a huge difference maker against talented opponents.

Finally, against Western Carolina, in the 11th game of the season, the entire roster stepped on the court and just played basketball. They got a superstar performance from one, consistent scoring outputs from two others, and great role play from the guys off the bench. Call me crazy, but that sounds like a recipe for success.

And the opportunity to test the new ingredients for first year head coach Buzz Williams will come on Monday, when they hot the road again for a date with N.C. State. The Wolfpack’s lone loss comes at the hands of Davidson, and will feature a stating lineup with no one shorter than 6’5”. The Big 4 will be asked to lead the way once again, but the story will be if the supporting cast can push them over the top for a big road win. The stage is set, and Big East play is right around the corner. What better time than now to put together a complete game?

Brian Henry
MUTV Remote Coordinating Producer
Marquette University Radio (WMUR) Sports Director

Marquette-Western Carolina Preview

The Golden Eagles will look to bounce back at the friendly confines of the Bradley Center Friday night when they host the Western Carolina Catamounts. (#23/24) Marquette is coming off their second non-conference loss of the season, when they fell to (#16/19) Tennessee in the Big East/SEC Invitational last Tuesday.

Expect to see MU focus on two critical areas coming off of their loss to the Volunteers. For only the second time all year, Marquette was beaten in the free throws attempted category (the loss to Dayton the other). It was only a difference of one free throw, but considering the Golden Eagles have averaged out-attempting their opponents by 12.25 trips to the charity stripe a game, it was a huge factor. This area will not be the focus on the offensive end however. Coach Buzz Williams and his players have the dilemma of playing undersized and not fouling. It’s a challenge Williams is open about, and knows it is not going away.

"I think we’ll fight an uphill battle, moreso than probably what most people think," said Williams with regard to avoiding foul trouble. "I think we’ve fought an uphill battle thus far in the 10 games we’ve played up to this point. And I don’t know how many left we have scheduled, but I think every game will be an uphill battle.”

Reprive is coming in the way of Western Carolina (5-3), who averages only drawing about 13 fouls per game. However, the Catamounts counter that statistic by taking a page out of Marquette’s playbook, using a high pressure defense that is forcing its opponents to turn the ball over 19 times a game. Junior guard Brigham Waginger has already entered the top ten in WCU history in thefts, and leads the team once again this year. He will handle their point guard duties with an impressive 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio.

The Catamounts are led by 6’8”, 205 pound junior, Jake Robinson, and his 15.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Robinson however, does not do his damage inside. He’ll remind Golden Eagle fans of another lanky sharpshooter that graduated back in 2006, Steve Novak. Although Robinson is not as accurate as the former unanimous All-Big East selection, he has the green light to shoot anywhere. Averaging eight attempts from three per game, he will certainly test Marquette’s perimeter defense.

Junior guard Brandon Giles will also light up the scoreboard for WCU is left open. Shooting an impressive 44.4% from deep, the 6’6” Giles’ 14.1 points per game will give Wes Matthews and Lazar Hayward two difficult defensive match ups when they meet Friday night.

The Golden Eagles will also look to improve their assist total against Western Carolina, as the guards uncharacteristically struggled to set up baskets in Nashville. MU’s season low of 10 assists tied their output against rival Wisconsin, and created quite a bit of one-on-one basketball.

Also, do not be surprised if Buzz Williams and the players on the floor make more of a concerned effort to get Dwight Burke some easy baskets to build confidence. With exception of the sparsely used Blake Gallagher, who only averages 13 minutes of playing time per game, Dwight will have at 25 pounds on whomever attempts to guard him inside. It is a great opportunity to improve his offensive productivity.

Time Warner Sports will produce Friday night’s affair, with it appearing on Channel 32 throughout Milwaukee. The game will also be on ESPN Full Court for the out of market fans who want to catch the action. Tip off is set for 7:34 pm at the Bradley Center.

Brian Henry
MUTV Remote Coordinating Producer
Marquette University Radio (WMUR) Sports Director

Same Old Song and Dance

For those Marquette Basketball fans that feel that they have been living in the twilight zone for the past three and a half years, Tuesday night was another trip down memory lane. The Golden Eagles battled, but in the end came up short to a bigger and stronger basketball team.

If you came to this one looking for an exhibition on how to run the fast break and score quick baskets, you were bitterly disappointed. Marquette and Tennessee combined for 24 turnovers, and also tallied a total of 55 fouls called during the game (31 of which were whistled against MU). Still, the opportunities were there for the Golden Eagles, but there was just not enough gas left in the tank at the end.

Understand that I am not claiming that this team did not give enough effort. I applaud every single one of the eight guys that wore the uniform tonight for leaving it all on the floor. The problem is that it wasn’t nearly enough. Saying this team is limited is like saying the Pope is Catholic. Face facts everyone. You cannot expect the starting five not to get in foul trouble if they are all playing at least thirty-five minutes (by the way, hats off to Dwight for playing 35 minutes).

So what can Buzz Williams do? Go to his bench like most normal coaches do of course. WRONG. The drop off from the starters to the guys coming off the pine is about as steep as the Himalayan Mountains. In order to stay in that game last night, Buzz had to keep his best on the floor as long as they could still breathe.

What did that get them? A two point deficit with 2:20 to play in the game. MU was then outscored 10-0 for the rest game. Wes Matthews pours in a career high 30 points, and single-handedly kept this two alive when it appeared ready to collapse. It’s always disappointing to lose, but there are positives to take away from this. Unfortunately, the lesson learned from it isn’t so positive.

If this teams has serious aspirations of having success in Big East play, and making some noise in the NCAA Tournament, they are going to have to develop a bench, and a way to defend the post. They cannot get by any more. Barro and Fitzgerald gave them that free pass last year with their interior defense and sporadic scoring outbursts. The Big Three are playing as well as anyone could have asked for this year (Dom could have shot better tonight, but we’re talking as a whole). Along with Lazar Hayward, they have carried this team as far as it can go with just those four performing at a high level.

Someone… anyone… MUST step up for this team in order for it to be a legitimate threat. The pressure that is going to fall on Chris Otule and Joe Fulce once they return is going to be unreasonable, but not unwarranted. Jimmy Butler has been nice, but cannot be the spark off the bench; Pat Hazel does not have the talent to do it; David Cuibillan has clearly not fully recovered from shoulder surgery; and at 5’6” Maurice Acker cannot be expected to be a big contributor.

The loss to Tennessee is not devastating on paper and to the tournament committee. Falling short to a ranked team on the road is noting to be distraught over. But the way this team has begun to shape up is cause for concern. When it comes down to it, if Coach Williams honestly feels his best chance to win is playing his starters 35 minutes a piece, then so be it. He’s not going to force something that is not there.

Tuesday night might have felt like the same old song and dance, but come Selection Sunday, Marquette fans might be in uncharted waters when the field of 64 is announced.

Brian Henry
MUTV Remote Coordinating Producer
Marquette University Radio (WMUR) Sports Director

Brian Henry is a senior in the College of Communication, majoring in Broadcast & Electronic Communication. He serves as the Sports Director of Marquette Radio (WMUR), and the Coordinating Producer of MUTV’s live sports remotes.

LIVE Game Blog vs. Tennessee

TEN 80 MU 68 -FINAL-
Look for a final recap later tonight from the MUTV writers.

TEN 76 MU 68 0:29
Timeout MARQUETTE after a travel called on TENNESSEE. Turnover ensues.

TEN 74 MU 68 1:13
Dominic misses a three. Burke fouls out. Burke finishes with 3 points, and not one field goal attempt.

TEN 74 MU 68 1:36
Wayne Chism (TEN) crashes the glass and picks up the board after two missed free throws. He makes one of two.

TEN 73 MU 68 1:38
Josh Tabb (TEN) hit a monster three from the corner.
MU comes down and Lazar misses a three after an offensive rebound.

TEN 70 MU 68 2:20
Down to just a 2 point deficit after Lazar hits an all-important 3 ball. Good to see him get going at the perfect time. Defense was keying in on Wes, and Lazar sat at his favorite spot: the top of the arc.

TEN 70 MU 65 2:40
Wes just broke his career high, but more importantly, he looks more driven than a 57 Chevy. Just under 3 minutes remain, but there is plenty of time left for this game to end up a "W" for either team.

TEN 68 MU 62 4:08
Wes Matthews hit a pair of free throws to tie a career-high of 28 points set against Dayton.

TEN 65 MU 57 5:52
Chism popped Tennessee's biggest momentum swing of the game: a 3 pointer while Jerel McNeal fouls for the 5th time, ending his night with 10 points off 4-6 shooting.

TEN 62 MU 57
Wesley puts in all 3 free throws, but Chism comes down to drop in his 20th point of the night. Lazar responds and hits his first three point FG of the night. BIG. But Chism answers back with 2. His inside presence is drawing Burke to help McNeal.

TEN 58 MU 49 7:49
This Tennessee team is too deep for Marquette to handle without Jerel and Dominic. It will be interesting to see when Buzz brings them back in. Burke also sits with 4 fouls. Wes's efforts continue to be admirable.

TEN 54 MU 49 8:46
Jimmy Butler called for an offensive foul. Chism (TEN) continues to surprise. Dominic and Jerel are both on the bench.

TEN 50 MU 48 9:15 Burke scrambles for a loose ball, and gets called for his fourth foul. Dominic's complaining gets him his second personal foul and a technical. Buzz apparently is getting a kick out of it. He is laughing up a storm.

TEN 50 MU 48 9:38 Dominic picks up his first foul, and Wayne Chism hits 2/3 FT. Burke runs down and commits his third personal.

MU 48 TEN 46 10:44
Wesley has 20 points after knocking down a pair of free throws. That is his fourth 20+ point performance this season and his first since the loss against Dayton November 29.

TEN 46 MU 45 11:30
Dominic James knocks down a huge three after hesitating. Down one.

TEN 44 MU 41 12:14
Hopson (TEN) is apparently healthy, as he is back in the action. Jerel is sitting with 4 fouls. Lazar and Wes have 3 each.

TEN 44 MU 41 13:00
Great steal by Dominic, and the finish. Woolrige (TEN) comes right back with a 3 to give the Vols a lead. Only 2/2 on the night, but 6 points total.

TEN 41 MU 39 14:26
A Tennessee possession sees two (2) offensive rebounds, but a fantastic play by Mo Acker results in a jump ball.

TEN 41 MU 39 15:19
Great cut to the hoop by Wes. Fouled, made 2/2. Great effort to create something out of a solid pass.

TEN 41 MU 37
16:19 Wes misses a three, then fouls. MU's got to hit jumpers to win tonight. They cannot afford to have Wes have an off-night.

TEN 41 MU 37
Maze hits the 3-pointer for Tennessee. Marquette struggles to get inside again. Tennessee comes back to take 4 point lead, their largest so far tonight.

MU 37 TEN 36
Marquette going toe to toe with Tennessee at the start of the second half. Gotta comment on the "buzz" from Buzz on the sideline. He's making a great impression on this national primetime stage.

MU 32 TEN 32 HALFTIME
Foul trouble is again the story for Marquette. The Golden Eagles are having a very tough time getting into the paint tonight. Lazar Hayward is jumping out of the gym-and he needs to in order for an MU win. He's collected 4 rebounds to go with 8 points. But Lazar's three point struggles continue, as he is 0-3 through the first half. Wes Matthews, meanwhile, is 3-4 from beyond the arc. Dominic James is impressive tonight, with a balanced stat line of 3 assists, 3 rebounds, and a block. But he is 1-5 from the field (1-3 3PT). The bench has struggled in the first half, making only one free throw and not one field goal. They have also collected a combined 5 fouls. The big play of the half: Dominic James's block. The key to the second half: Jerel McNeal. He has 8 points off 3-5 shooting, but amassed 3 fouls in the first twenty minutes.

Brad Galli
MUTV Assistant Sports Director

Marquette-Tennessee Preview

If you’ve been living under a rock recently and have failed to notice, the (No. 23/24) Marquette Golden Eagles will be down on old Rocky Top tonight when they take on (No. 16/19) Tennessee in Nashville. The game is a part of the Big East/SEC Invitational, and MU and UT is the marquee game of the night.

This will be a very dangerous game for the Golden Eagles as they will struggle to match-up with the much bigger Volunteer team. No one knows this better than Golden Eagle skipper Buzz Williams who talked about it earlier this week.

"They have 10 high-major players," Williams said. "But they're really long and really athletic, and they just keep bringing 'em at you.” Eight of UT’s ten man rotation stands at 6’6” or taller, and their study Tyler Smith will do the majorit of the damage. Smith’s 17.4 points, 5.9 boards, and 4.6 assists per game make him a real tripple threat that will challenge the Golden Eagles.
To handle the fast pace and multiple bodies being thrown at them, Marquette will need production from its bench that has been entirely innefective this year. Only 5’6” point guard Maurice Acker is averaging more than four points per game.
Expect the load to fall on the Dominic, Wes, Jerel, and Lazar as usual. The only differece that will be needed tonight, is that all four must be spectacular. This means staying out of foul trouble, knocking down tough shots, and rebounding as if they were all four inches taller.
This is not an unwinable game for MU, but they sure are not the favorites. Expect Marquette to battle Tennessee, but in the end the Vols will have too much firepower.

Prediction: Tennessee 84 Marquette 65

Brian Henry
MUTV Remote Coordinating Producer
Marquette University Radio (WMUR) Sports Director

Shymansky New Head Volleyball Coach

Bond Shymansky has been tabbed the new head coach of the Marquette women's volleyball team. Marquette University AD Steve Cottingham announced that Shymansky, who has a plethora of postseason experience and recruiting success at the NCAA Division I level, will be taking over the program.

After former coach Patti Rolf resigned with just a couple weeks left in the 2008 season, Shymansky will surely be welcomed. He was the head coach at Georgia Tech University the last seven seasons. Under Bond, the Yellow Jackets made three NCAA Tournament appearances. Georgia Tech's overall record of 172-64 (.729) included a 96-38 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He finished the 2008 campaign with the highest career winning percentage among active ACC coaches, a mark that also put him in the top-20 in the nation.

In seven seasons, Shymansky led Georgia Tech to the NCAA Sweet 16 (2003), the NCAA Elite 8 (2004), ACC Tournament Championship (2002) and ACC Regular Season Championship (2003 and 2004).

At only 37 years of age, Bond Shymansky will certainly breathe alot of life into a program filled with young stars such as Beccka Gonyo, Amy Deelo, Tia Russell, And Ciara Jones.

Brad Galli
MUTV Assistant Sports Director

Buzz Keepin' It Real

Marquette Head Coach Buzz Williams expressed his final thoughts after the win over Wisconsin.

Marquette Radio (WMUR)'s Brian Henry provided the clip, and added, "Take a listen. You come away just liking the guy."


http://www.zshare.net/audio/525001816e786adf/

McNeal Named BIG EAST Player of the Week

The BIG EAST Conference announced Monday that Marquette guard Jerel McNeal is the Player of the week for December 1-7.

The senior led the Golden Eagles to a pair of victories over Central Michigan and #22 Wisconsin. In the two games, McNeal was a combined 15 of 28 from the field, and averaged 20 points (14, 26) per contest. In a surprising statistic, Jerel was second in the team in rebounding for the week, pulling down 4 boards against CMU and 7 against UW, for a total of 11. That was second only to teammate Lazar Hayward's 21 total boards.

This is the second time McNeal has been honored as BIG EAST Player of the Week. The other time came during the 2006 season, after he guided the Golden Eagles to a CBE Classic championsip with wins over Texas Tech and Duke.

Brad Galli
MUTV Assistant Sports Director

Marquette 61 Wisconsin 58

A long-standing rivalry or a case of David and Goliath?

Early in the Marquette-Wisconsin game, it looked as though the Badgers (6-2) were coming in as a Goliath, leading the game for most of the first half. The team’s largest lead over the Golden Eagles (7-1) hit ten points with just under seven minutes left in the half. The Badgers finished out the first twenty minutes with 33 points to Marquette’s 27, led by Keaton Nankivil and Trevon Hughes. The team did not just end the half with the lead in points, they also racked up upwards of 10 team fouls in the first half alone.

The tide of the game turned when Marquette came back strong in the second half. The team stepped up their rebounding efforts, moving from only 10 total rebounds in the first half to 31 total by game's end. Led by senior guard Jerel McNeal, whose season-high 26 points were almost half of MU's total points, the Golden Eagles were able to secure a victory over the Badgers, 61-58. Other high scorers for the Golden Eagles were senior guards Dominic James with 10 points and Wesley Matthews with 9, as well as junior forward Lazar Hayward, who also chipped in 9.

When asked what contributed to the Badger’s loss, head coach Bo Ryan simply said, “We didn’t take [advantage of] the opportunities on our end.” The win is Marquette’s 53rd victory over the innerstate rivals, and marks the first back-to-back victories for Marquette in the series since the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons.

Patty Marra
MUTV News Director

Golden Eagles Preparing for Badgers

OFFICIAL MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY PRESS RELEASE:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------The No. 25 Marquette University men’s basketball team continues its homestand with non-conference action against in-state rival No. 22 Wisconsin Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. CT in the Bradley Center. ESPNU will feature Marquette’s first national broadcast of the campaign, with Lou Canellis (play-by-play) and Mike Kelley (analyst) calling the action. Melissa Knowles will serve as the sideline reporter. Saturday’s matchup will be the 115th between the two programs.

Offensive Pace Continues To Lead BIG EAST
Seven games into the 2008-09 campaign, Marquette continues to lead the conference with a scoring average of 87.9 points per game.
That mark, which includes a pair of 100-point efforts in back-to-back games (vs. Chicago State, vs. Milwaukee), currently ranks eighth in the nation through games of Dec. 3. MU’s roster feature four players averaging double figures in points.
Marquette and North Dakota State (4th, 90.5 ppg.) were the only two programs in the nation to feature a trio of 1,000-point scorers when the season began.

Burke’s Career Game Helped MU To Win In Last UW Matchup
Senior forward Dwight Burke helped lead MU to an 81-76 victory at Wisconsin last season in the most recent matchup between the two programs.
The Brooklyn, N.Y., native finished with 12 points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes of action, including some clutch free throws in the game’s closing moments. Burke’s point and rebound totals from that game both marked career highs to that point.
UW’s last trip (Dec. 9, 2006) to the Bradley Center resulted in a 70-66 victory for the Badgers.
Wisconsin leads the all-time series record, 62-52, but the Golden Eagles have a 36-26advantage in Milwaukee.
One of the longest tenured series in Marquette’s record book, the MU-UW series dates back to the 1917-18 season.

Matthews Nearing Dad’s Collegiate Scoring Mark
Senior Wesley Matthews has played a key role in the team’s early success in 2008-09 and is currently producing the best offensive numbers of his career.
He currently owns 1,186 career points and will soon pass the total collected by his father, Wesley Sr., at the University of Wisconsin. The elder Matthews netted 1,251 career points for the Badgers, which ranks 14th on the school’s all-time list.
Selected in the first round of the 1980 NBA Draft, the senior Matthews was able to tally his scoring mark in just three years.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marquette 81 Central Michigan 67

Marquette bounced back from their first loss Tuesday night, as they returned home from the Chicago Invitational. Wesley Matthews again led the Golden Eagles with 18 points and led No. 25 Marquette (6-1) to an 81-67 win over the Central Michigan Chippewas (2-4).

MU started off slowly, shooting just 37% (10-27) from the field in the first half. The Chips kept things close throughout, as Marquette's injury-plagued lineup continued to force players to play positions usually unfamiliar to them. Wes Matthews matched up against CMU's power forwards and Lazar Hayward platooned at Center, playing alongside four Marquette guards. Heading into halftime, the Golden Eagles led 36-27.

In what has been a recurring theme in the seven-game Buzz Williams regime, the Blue and Gold-donned men jumped out to a fast start in the second half. They stretched their lead to 18 after a 13-4 run. Coach Williams's bench outscored Central's, 17-6, a positive sign after its struggle against the Dayton Flyers last Friday night.

Foul trouble continues to plague Marquette, as Lazar Hayward fouled out, while Dwight Burke and Wes Matthews both had four fouls. But most of those fouls came late in the second half, when the game was already out of Central Michigan's reach. To Coach Williams's credit, the team's tenacity was controlled and incredibly effective. Nine steals led to 18 points, and the defensive effort is slowly starting to gain its own identity.

Dominic James poured in 15 points and Lazar Hayward scored 14 for Marquette, who faces off at home against the University of Wisconsin, Saturday at 8:30 P.M.

Brad Galli
MUTV Assistant Sports Director

Marquette 100 Milwaukee-Wisconsin 80

An historic night played out at the Bradley Center floor Saturday night. The Marquette University Golden Eagles took on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers. The Golden Eagles battled the Panthers through the first half, until the Golden Eagles took over with a lead during the second half with a 10-0 run. Marquette came into tonight’s game with a 35-0 all-time series lead with Milwaukee. Dominic James became the fourth player in Marquette history to record over 500 career assists with a season high eight assists versus Milwaukee. Junior forward Lazar Hayward recorded his seventh career double-double, and second this season with 25 points and 10 rebounds, while starting guard Jerel McNeal had a season high five steals. MU had at least four players score in double figures, led by senior guard Wesley Matthews, who scored 25 points. Marquette continued to add to the record breaking evening by adding to the second-longest active win streak by an NCAA Division I team with a 100-80 win over Milwaukee. The historic night continued for the Golden Eagles as tonight’s victory marked win number 1,400 for Marquette. MU became just the 50th men’s basketball program in NCAA history to reach the 1,400-win milestone.

Lauren Ciarrachi
MUTV

MUTV: Marquette 95 Houston Baptist 64

MUTV Assistant Sports Director Brad Galli reports from Al McGuire Court at the Bradley Center after Marquette defeats Houston Baptist in their season opener, 95-64.

Otule Out a Month

OFFICIAL MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY PRESS RELEASE:
Freshman center Chris Otule of the Marquette University men’s basketball team has been sidelined for several weeks after suffering an injury to his left foot in practice earlier this week.

Otule was injured when a teammate landed on his foot, causing a fracture in the metatarsal bone. He is expected to miss at least a month of game action due to the injury.

Otule is in his first season with the Golden Eagles and is the only true freshman on the roster. He is expected to provide valuable minutes in the team’s front line rotation in 2008-09.

The only other healthy big men on the roster are starters Lazar Hayward and Dwight Burke, as well as Patrick Hazel off the bench.

The season opens tonight at the Bradley Center at 7 P.M. Be sure to check out MUTV-Sports.blogspot.com for postgame thoughts, interviews, and highlights.

MUTV Interviews: Lauren Thomas-Johnson

At Marquette all the way from Manchester, England, Lauren Thomas-Johnson, a JUCO transfer guard for the Marquette Women's Basketball team stops by for a quick interview.

MUTV Interviews: Rob Frozena

Jonathan Ficke goes a few rounds with Marquette's Great White Hope

MU Volleyball Coach Pati Rolf Resigns

After seven seasons as the head coach of the Marquette women's volleyball team, Pati Rolf resigned on Wednesday evening.

Pati's tenure at Marquette has had a lot of bright spots, but it's been tough going for the volleyball team this season. Key graduations and a rash of injuries put this team in a severely compromised position.

This comes as a bit of a surprise from a timing perspective as the team still has four games left before the end of the season. This Friday and Sunday they will play home games at the Al.

Assistant coach Erica Heisser will assume an interim head coach role for the remainder of the season.

MUTV Interview: Jimmy Butler

Sophomore transfer from Tyler CC, a Juco in Texas, Jimmy Butler joins Ritchie Donnelly for a short interview on MUTV.

MUTV Commercial: Injuries Happen

SportsTime anchor Brad Galli and Lazar Hayward star in MUTV's latest and greatest commercial.

Today's Game

Well I now know what it feels like to call color for an NCAA basketball game. People always sit around and when there's shoddy announcers cough*theymayhaveballplayersfromnewyorkcity*cough we say something like "I could do that." My response to that is simple: If it's something you love and know a lot about, for example, MU basketball, you probably could. The real work was the hoops our production crew jumped through to get this thing off the ground so far from our normal center of operations.

Based on some feedback from posters on muscoop.com I know at least a couple people watched. So far what I've heard has been positive and that's a good feeling. In some ways there's no charity like bringing MU basketball to the alumni who moved away.

That being said I had a few impressions from the game I'd like to share.

1. Otule and Butler are freakishly athletic but raw and inexperienced. They will make exceptional plays based on that athleticism, but more experienced players will exploit it and they will likely be battling foul trouble all year. Both played aggressive basketball and were active on the boards, which is something we need.

2. Nic and Jerel were solid as expected. Nic seemed to have a little more of a pass-first mentality and that's a plus. There were a few errant passes, but let's give everyone the exhibition excuse of knocking the rust off.

3. Lazar is a monster. If he improves half as much from last season to this as he did from freshman to sophomore year, he'll be an All-American. He has a knack for getting to the basket and pulling down boards as though he's a few inches taller than he is. He was the player of the game by far.

4. Admirable play out of Reese. He ran the point efficiently and even allowed Nic to slide over to the 2 spot occasionally.

5. Buzz's style is to my liking. I enjoyed his experiments with small lineups and big lineups. We saw Nic, Jerel, Wes, Reese and Lazar on the floor a couple of times, we also saw Nic, Jerel, Burke, Otule and Lazar for a big look. Interesting combination and it will be exciting to see how we settle in for the long haul.

6. We allowed a lot of points, but all the ThunderWolves were doing was chucking up threes so perhaps that's excusable.

All in all it was a good way to start the season so to speak. The actual tip off of games that matter will begin this coming Friday and I hope everyone is as excited as I am.

Jonathan Ficke
Assistant Sports Director
Color Man Extraordinaire

Marquette Men's Basketball Season Begins Tomorrow!

The 2008-09 edition of the Marquette Men's hoops team is set to be unveiled for the first time at the Bradley Center this season. Saturday's exhibition opener against Colorado State Pueblo will be broadcasted live by MUTV on www.gomarquette.com and in the dorms on channel 99, starting at 1:00 CT. Brian Henry and Jonathan Ficke will have the call.
Marquette will be without injured guard David Cubillan, sidelined swingman Joseph Fulce, and transfer Liam McMorrow. But the game will give fans the opportunity to see new Head Coach Buzz Williams pacing the Bradley Center sidelines for the very first time.
Remember to tune in to MUTV's coverage of the game on www.gomarquette.com.

Brad Galli
MUTV Assistant Sports Director

MUTV Interview: Patrick Hazel

Sophomore forward Patrick Hazel joins us for a brief interview.

Notes from Haunted Hoops

For all who are interested, Coach Buzz Williams did mention that he has been on the job for 206 days during his speech at the fish fry. What was also interesting is that he tries to not use a microphone when he speaks in front of large groups. He does that as well as not use a whistle during practice. According to him, he wants to teach his players to key in on his voice, rather than a whistle, because during games the men with whistles won't be able to make adjustments for the team.

The scrimmage following the dinner was well balanced. However there were a few things that stuck out, which may be seen during the season. First, Joe Fulce is very fast, but can get into foul trouble very easily. During the second 15 minute half he recorded 4 fouls in just 11 minutes of game play. Next, Dwight Burke seemed to be very effective under the rim; but this must be taken with a grain of salt, because he was facing his own teammates, who are undersized. Of the younger players, I was impressed with the way that Jimmy Butler played, but he'll be behind a number of players at the 3 spot this year and may not find much playing time. Chris Otule was decent, but he will need to play more aggressively on the boards to be competitive in the BIG EAST.

In other news, AD Steve Cottingham said that the student section is sold out, as are all of the tickets for the Wisconsin game. He also said that he expects the UCONN and Syracuse games to be sold out by the end of next week, when individual tickets go on sale.

Ritchie Donnelly
MUTV Sports Director

MU Soccer Gives Ficke the Business, Part Deux

Nick Kay and Matt Pyzdrowski discuss the devastation they laid on Ficke with the guys from the Locker Room... they might mention the soccer team at some point too.

MU Soccer Gives Ficke the Business, Part Un

Nick Kay and Matt Pyzdrowski of the MU Men's Soccer team embarass Jonathan Ficke down at Valley Fields during a demonstration on penalty kicks. Enjoy his failure.

Junior forward Lazar Hayward drops by for a short interview with Brad Galli on another MUTV Sports Wednesday Interview. He talks about the off season, the team, and he even mentions the upcoming Dunk Contest at Marquette Madness.

Catch Terri Angst and the rest of the Women's Volleyball team in action this Friday evening at 7 CST against Louisville live from the Al on MUTV and GoMarquette.com

Madness Is Getting Closer!

Saturday night will bring one of the most exciting nights on the Marquette yearly sports schedule to the forefront of the Wisconsin sports scene. Marquette Madness is upon us!
We at MUTV Sports have a lot up our sleeves for our exclusive live broadcast. First of all, there are grumblings that a new "This Is SportsTime" commercial might debut. Plus, we will be sitting down with Marquette personalities, athletes, and coaches in very insightful interviews.
We are hard at work to get you closer to all the Madness than ever before!

On campus, tune in on Channel 99 beginning at 5:30 Central Time. And off campus, check us out on MU's official Athletics site: http://www.gomarquette.com/ at 5:30 P.M. Central Time as well.

Tune in! You won't be disappointed!

[photo courtesy of gomarquette.com]

Brad Galli
MUTV Assistant Sports Director

MUTV's Growth Since My Freshman Year

In Chapter 2 of Imperial Purple by Edgar Saltus, Augustus Caesar is quoted as saying, "I received Rome in brick, and shall leave it in marble."

As Marquette Madness approaches, I sat back and thought about what a huge undertaking this remote broadcast is. While I do not quite share the extreme view of my contributions to MUTV as Caesar did to Rome, his quote made me think about the advances that MUTV has gone through over my years at the station. When I first joined as a freshman in the Fall of 2005 it was technologically impossible to broadcast live events from the AL. During that year MUTV was also completely reliant on tape-to-tape editing. Furthermore, the Sports Department did not have direct access to Marquette Athletes.

Now it is the Fall of 2008 and I am in my senior year. I like to think that I have grown at least a little wiser, but I know that MUTV has grown exponentially. The Madness broadcast on Saturday will be our third live broadcast from the AL this year alone (last year we had 8). MUTV is now almost completely digital, creates 12 new shows every week and streams many live broadcasts every semester. And every Wednesday we work with the Athletic Department to schedule four to six athletes to come to studio 7 in Johnston Hall for MUTV Sports: Sit down with a Marquette Athlete, which can be seen on this blog, gomarquette.com and muscoop.com.

But the advances don't end there. The Madness broadcast has grown in leaps and bounds. When MUTV first attempted to broadcast the event, only a two man crew provided audio to one camera that was focused on the floor of the AL. When viewers go to Madness this Saturday, they will see a crew of nearly 30 students, with 5 cameras, technical crews in 3 different locations, and a 4 seat set next to the court for interviews with athletes, coaches and beat writers. If you can't make it to the AL, and will be watching on gomarquette.com, you will see a broadcast with the most video footage and graphics that have ever been used in a live remote broadcast at MUTV.

The Madness broadcast has taken on a life of its own at MUTV as I'm sure it has within the Marquette Basketball community. We at MUTV hope that you enjoy the broadcast this Saturday, but we also hope you appreciate the tireless efforts that so many people at MUTV have gone through over the years to make this possible.

Ritchie Donnelly
MUTV Sports Director

MUTV Sports Interview: Maurice Acker

Point Guard Maurice Acker sits down with Ritchie Donnelly for a short interview. This is the first of what will be a full week of MU Hoops-related content as we get ready for Marquette Madness this Saturday.

Marquette Madness, Saturday

We're less than one week away from the "kickoff" of MU Hoops this year (They've begun practicing but Madness was moved back a week because the students were on Fall Break). MUTV will be broadcasting it live from the Al starting at 5:30 CST on GoMarquette.com. Suffice it to say we have big plans and high hopes. There are a number of interviews being lined up with coaches, players and more; we have a number of videos about the program, its history, its present and its future. We've got a lot planned.

The Sports staff, Jonathan Ficke, Ritchie Donnelly and Brad Galli will be anchoring the broadcast; it will be produced by Brian Henry, and there are a ton of other hard-working students that will be instrumental in the production.

During the run up to the broadcast we will be posting interviews with the players, information about the broadcast and a ton of other MU Hoops-related info. Check back later this evening for a video of a 5-6 minute interview with point guard Maurice Acker.

Check out GoMarquette.com for more information about Marquette Madness:
http://gomarquette.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/102008aaa.html

Jonathan Ficke
Assistant Sports Director

MUTV Sports Interview: Becka Gonyo

MU Women's Volleyball player sits down for a short interview.

Van Sickle is a Force on the Links

Mike Van Sickle just won his eight career tournament. It wasn't a one under par, one stroke victory, he shot 64-68-67 for a 17-under par tournament. He man-handled the course and claimed the title by eight strokes. That's Tiger-esque.

A few weeks ago we interviewed Van Sickle (you can check that out a few posts back) and he seemed humble and well-grounded. Seriously though, if anyone had a right to gloat just a little bit, right now its this guy. He's a preseason All-American (one of only 10) and is ranked as the eighth best amateur golfer in the country. He's coming off of a Big East tournament victory last Spring and to be honest, it's not much of a stretch to say that this team could repeat.

I hate to put expectations out there, but this guy is a PGA caliber golfer. Let's just wait and see if he wears blue and gold on Sunday's.



Check out the story about his win at gomarquette.com:
http://gomarquette.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/recaps/101408aaa.html

MUTV Sports Interview: Trent Hagan

We sat down with Men's Tennis Senior Trent Hagan for a short interview.



Also, check out a story about how MU Dominated at the Purdue Invitational.

http://gomarquette.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/recaps/101208aaa.html for

Rosiak on Snaer and one MUTV Guy's Perpsective:

Let's be honest, he'd be a wonderful get and as Rosaiak says:

"Snaer was in the gym early and spent his time working on his catch-and-shoot and free-throw shooting. I'm not breaking any ground in saying this, but Snaer sppears to be every bit the deadeye perimeter shooter he's been billed as being. He possesses picture-perfect form, has nice lift and a feathery follow-through and touch."

Who could honestly say we wouldn't want the kind of contribution that he would bring.

The point I'd like to make is that Buzz is bringing in more than one top flight recruit. The potential to get Jamil Wilson is good, but the potential to miss him and still get the kind of recruit that Snaer represents is better. Hopefully, Buzz's ability to recruit beyond just one top target will result in deeper classes and not just one spectacular class followed by two or three mediocre classes.

To be honest, a recruit of Snaer's potential could be program changer. Hopefully we put the best face forward and Buzz lands a huge get. If we miss Snaer, this kind of recruiting means that he second best option is still a great get.

Jonathan Ficke
MUTV Assistant Sports Director
MUTV Sports Blog Editor-in-Chief

The Locker Room With the Golf Team (Part 2)

Mike Van Sickle and Dustin Schwab show the guys a trick or two with the sand wedge.

The Locker Room With the Golf Team (Part 1)

Defending Big East Champs from the MU Golf team spend some time on our Wednesday night show, The Locker Room

McNeal gets national attention

Recently Fran Fraschilla of ESPN.com ranked the best defensive players in all of college basketball on his insider blog. With individual defensive performances like his last second steal that led to a game winning layup against South Florida during his sophomore season, there's no surprise to Marquette fans that Jerel McNeal is on that list. In the blog Fraschilla wrote, "he's got the competitiveness, strength and athletic ability to guard four positions on the court and is the Golden Eagles' most important player." I think it's fair to say that after watching Jerel guard the opposition's best player game in and game out, he's the heart and soul of this team. But don't take my word for it, take a look at his numbers. Among BIG EAST players he ranks in the top 15 in scoring (14.9ppg), assists (3.54apg) and steals (2nd best with 2.17spg). When you look at just Marquette, he is the only player on the team to average double digit points as well as at least 3 assists (3.5) and rebounds (4.9) per game.

It's interesting to see who else Fraschilla put on his list. Other BIG EAST players include Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien from UCONN and Jonny Flynn from Syracuse. Wisconsin Badgers Marcus Landry and Joe Krabbenhoft are also listed, but as honorable mention.

So when Marquette needs somebody to step up and hang 28 points on Notre Dame in the BIG EAST Tournament, or when Marquette goes to Pittsburgh and has to face Sam Young, I'm sure that Buzz Williams will look towards Jerel McNeal to guide the Golden Eagles to victory.


Ritchie Donnelly
MUTV Sports Director

Pictures From the Set: September 24

Note the first piece of Big East hardware brought home by an MU team. Great work winning the conference last year.





MU Golfers Mike Van Sickle and Dustin Schwab are joined by hosts Brad Galli, Mike O'Sullivan, and Michael Wottreng on the set of the Locker Room.




The Locker Room Team (L to R): Adam Sharrett, Mike O'Sullivan, Michael Wottreng, Dustin Schwab, Luke LeNoble, Mike Van Sickle, Brad Galli and Ritchie Donnelly

MU Sports Weekend Recap: September 20

Ritchie Donnelly and Kari Kaelin recap the weekend's Marquette Athletic results on our Monday evening show, SportsTime.

"The Locker Room" - Live on Ch. 99 Wed @ 8:30 P.M.

Looking for the inside scoop on all Marquette sports teams?
Searching for VIDEO interviews with your favorite Golden Eagle stars?
Well, look no further than MUTV's "The Locker Room," which airs live every Wednesday at 8:30 P.M. CT on Channel 99.
Tonight, tune in to see Preseason All-American golfer Mike Van Sickle tee off with the guys on topics stretching from sand shots to what shoes he wears.

Live, tonight only on MUTV 99.

Brad Galli
MUTV Assistant Sports Director

Jay Bilas: "Big East toughest" conference

The talking heads from Bristol are starting to chime in about this year's upcoming men's basketball season. Jay Bilas, writing in his ESPN Insider blog ranked the Big East as the nation's best conference from top to bottom saying: "UConn, Louisville, Pitt, Notre Dame, Marquette, Georgetown, Villanova, Syracuse and West Virginia likely will be NCAA tournament teams. Cincinnati, Seton Hall and Providence could be near the line at the end."

He's saying that there will "likely" be nine teams from the Big East in the Big Dance. In addition there could be three more on the bubble come March. It's great to hear that the Big East is going to be the best conference in the country, but it just reminds us that from the beginning of conference play to the end of the season, every single game is going to be a battle.

It's a good thing that we have veteran leadership that has been through tough Big East schedules before; we've got another tough one this season.

Jonathan Ficke
MUTV Assistant Sports Director

Our Friends at the Tribune on Men's Soccer:

Late foul costs MU against St. John's

Men's soccer spoils return of Scott Miller
By Nick Bullock

The old adage goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Well, the Marquette men's soccer team wasn't exactly broken, but with a 1-1-2 record going in to Friday's match against Syracuse, it wasn't exactly running like a well-oiled machine either.

"We didn't play well on Friday," coach Louis Bennett said. "It was a game that we let slip away."

As was Saturday's match against St. John's that ended in a 1-0 Marquette loss in overtime.

Bennett said that before the weekend came he knew that it was time for a little change of scenery. The problem was that his team was lacking in depth as a result of a few key injuries.

Much had been made of senior midfielder Dan Addis' season-ending injury, but the knee injury that kept sophomore defender Scott Miller out of action for the first four matches of the season had just as dire of consequences.

"I don't want to blame injuries or anything, but we haven't had a full squad to pick from until today," Bennett said.

With the addition of Miller, Bennett was able to get more creative against the powerhouse that is St. John's. He opened with five defenders &mdadsh; Miller, juniors Tim Jallow and Billy Von Rueden, and freshmen Paul Monsen and Michael Alfano — looking to neutralize the St. John's attack.

Suffice it to say the strategy would have worked if not for an untimely foul that allowed St. John's the winning penalty kick.

But despite the loss Bennett insists he is happy with what he saw out of his team on Sunday, especially Miller.

"Calmness, leadership, great in the air, good with his feet," Bennett said when asked what Miller brings to the team. "I thought he was the best player on the field today to be honest with you."

Another thing Miller brought is a camaraderie that Marquette has been lacking at times this season.

In the 41st minute, Von Rueden and St. John's defender Joel Gustafsson both received yellow cards. The reason for Von Rueden's?

"I was just protecting Scott," Von Rueden said referring to when Gustafsson knocked Miller on the ground. "That's what it came down to. The ref didn't like it, didn't see it that way, but I was just protecting Scott."

According to assistant coach Stan Anderson, Miller is not yet back to 100 percent as far as health or fitness goes. But judging by the fact that Miller played significant minutes in each of the weekend games, the coaches must think that a less than 100 percent Miller is still good enough to help the team.

Against Syracuse Miller saw about 60 minutes and Anderson was quick to point out that when he took the bench Syracuse scored its only goal.

"He worked his backside off to get back," Anderson said. "Is he healthy? I don't know if at the top level of sports, once you are in season, if you are ever 100 percent."

Completely healthy or not, both Anderson and Bennett say that the return of Miller is going to be integral for the Golden Eagles as they move deeper into the Big East season.

"We've got now a couple of guys that are beginning to be able to stand on their own two feet in the Big East and be able to say, 'Alright guys, you can stand there … but I'll lead, you follow,'" Bennett said. "That's what we need. I can tell them to do this and do that, but what's important is them doing it and then believing it."

Originally posted on www.marquettetribune.org

2nd Commercial of the Year: "Haircut"

1st Commercial of the Year: "Manstranding"

Welcome to the MUTV Sports Blog.

This is a brand new venture of the MUTV Sports Department and basically we are going to try to give Marquette sports fans another source of coverage, and we’re going to bring you video that you can’t get anywhere else. Since this is new, we are still working on developing regular content, but will be making it a priority to update this on a regular basis and to do so as often as possible.

We intend to include stories from the Marquette Tribune, audio from Marquette University Radio and, of course, video from MUTV. Right now men’s golf, men’s and women's soccer, women’s volleyball, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's cross country are all underway and we will be covering them extensively. Be sure to check in as the men’s basketball season gets closer as we will all be looking forward to another exciting season.

Speaking of men’s basketball, this year MUTV Sports is the sole provider of Marquette Madness to the world. In the days and weeks leading up to that broadcast be sure to check in regularly as we provide information and season preview information. After the event we will be bringing you video and analysis that you won’t be able to find anywhere else.

With that said, I am looking forward to an exciting year of Marquette athletics and I know that all of you are too.

Jonathan Ficke
MUTV Assistant Sports Director
Editor in Chief -- MUTV Sports Blog