Eagles hope TV games are the catalyst

0 Comments | Milwaukee Journal, The, Jan 4, 1995 | by DARRYL O. LEDBETTER

After trouncing the University of Wisconsin on Saturday, several Marquette University basketball players talked about the lack of respect they receive locally and in the national polls.

"It's like you go around and everyone is talking about the Badgers," Golden Eagles forward Roney Eford said. "You go into stores and everything is `the Badgers.' They even get more press down here in Milwaukee, more than we do.

"Even when I went home to New York, everyone was talking about, `How did you lose to the Badgers {last season}?' They failed to recognize that we went to the Sweet 16."

Marquette (8-1) gets a chance to take their case to the people.

Their next three games will be televised nationally on ESPN, beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday when they face Temple (4-1) in the Busch Atlantic 10 / Great Midwest Battle at the new Kiel Center in St. Louis.

Marquette home games against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay at 11 a.m. Saturday and the University of Cincinnati at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, also will be broadcast on ESPN.

The victory over Wisconsin, ranked 19th at the time, and a solid run through the three games on national television could put the Golden Eagles in the rankings.

"That was our first big test and I think that we came through with a lot of positives," Marquette coach Mike Deane said. "There are also a lot of things that we need to continue to work on."

Last season, the Golden Eagles were ranked 21st in the final Associated Press MU

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poll and 17th in the final CNN / USA Today poll.

Marquette may be gathering momentum in this season's polls. The Golden Eagles received 76 points in the most recent Associated Press poll voting compared to just two the previous week. And Marquette improved to 21 points in the CNN / USA Today poll, up from 12 in the previous poll.

National recognition is what the Golden Eagles are after, point guard Tony Miller said, and the victory over the Badgers was an important step. "{Wisconsin} was really our first legitimate big game," Miller said, "and the guys went out and played well."

The Golden Eagles appear to have adapted well to Deane's up- tempo style of play. They are averaging 84.5 points a game, while giving up 65.6.

Deane also appears to be running a looser ship than the players were accustomed to in recent years. The Golden Eagles occasionally even get to listen to music while they warm up before practice. The theory is that they warm up faster with some rhythmic beats blasting.

"There are some different things that we do and I'm pretty sure that you all have seen us pushing each other," Miller said. "It's just something that we do to get ourselves up."

Anthony Pieper got so riled up before the Wisconsin game that he threw an left-right combination to the head of the Golden Eagles' mascot.

Miller, who recorded a triple- double 18 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds against Wisconsin, believes the respect will come in time. In the meantime, he's just trying to have a little fun during his final season.

"This is something like a coming out party for myself," Miller said. "In the past three years, I've been running the team and getting guys in position to get shots. This year, I'm looking for my own shot more and that's just helping me become a better player.

"When I'm a threat, it makes us hard to guard. I'm having a lot of fun, and the year has just really started."

With Deane making extensive use of his bench, not just the veterans are in on the fun. A total of 10 players have played in all nine games.

"Everybody has contributed," center Amal McCaskill said. "A lot of guys off the bench like Zack McCall, who didn't really score any points {against Wisconsin}. But he helped us out tremendously in the second half as far as his defensive effort was concerned. He lifted the emotion of the rest of the guys on the team."

Against the Badgers, Faisal Abraham passed his first test defending against a true center. He didn't stop Wisconsin's Rashard Griffith, but held his ground well while giving up 4 inches and 35 pounds.

"He wore me out a little bit, but it was good to have some help from the bench from Abel {Joseph} and Amal," Abraham said. "I knew going into the game that me and Abel had to concentrate on defense and the techniques. We just tried our best. We did our best trying to hold him."

Notebook: The game against Temple will be only the second meeting of the two schools. Temple won the first meeting, 38-36, during the 1938-'39 season. . . . Shane Littles, a sophomore guard, has been suspended from the Marquette team for academic reasons. He could be determined ineligible for the second semester, too, depending on how he does on incomplete first-semester work. . . . Deane said Chris Crawford will start in place of Abraham when the Golden Eagles play teams that don't have two strong inside players. Crawford is set to start on Saturday against UW-Green Bay.