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.
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