Demetris Nichols needs 31 points to become SU's 48th 1,000-point scorer.
Orange Visits Marquette for First BIG EAST Road Game Sunday
1/6/2007 11:18:03 AM | Men's Basketball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange men’s basketball team (11-4, 0-1) will play its second straight game against a ranked opponent on Sunday, Jan. 7 when it visits #15/21 Marquette (13-3, 0-1) for an 8:00 EST tip off at the Bradley Center. Both clubs are seeking their first conference wins of the season. The game will be televised by ESPN Regional and available live in the Syracuse area on Time Warner 26. Live audio of the contest can be heard on suathletics.com via Orange All Access and fans can also tune in to the Syracuse Radio Network broadcast on WAQX (95.7 FM) and WNSS (1260 AM).
Sunday’s game marks the second road game for the Orange and the third away from the Carrier Dome. Syracuse previously played at Canisius on Nov. 25 and faced Oklahoma State in a neutral site encounter at Madison Square Garden. It also represents a showdown between two teams that advanced to the 2003 Final Four. The Orange, led by Carmelo Anthony, won its first national championship by defeating Texas and Kansas. The Golden Eagles, led by Dwyane Wade, were bounced by the Jayhawks in the national semifinals.
Due to various injuries and the departure of freshman Mike Jones, the Orange used just seven players against #10 Pittsburgh in the conference opener on Jan. 4. Despite limited bodies, Coach Boeheim’s squad gave the Panthers all they could handle, leading the entire first half before Pittsburgh pulled away in the final minutes of the second period for a 74-66 triumph.
Sophomore guard Eric Devendorf has found his scoring touch again. He is averaging 16.7 points per game in SU’s last three contests and finished with a team-best 17 versus the Panthers. He also chipped in four assists, two steals and a block. Senior center Darryl Watkins continued his solid play with 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in the contest. He now has 197 career rejections and is three shy of becoming the ninth SU player to reach 200 blocks. Watkins also neutralized Player of the Year candidate Aaron Gray, holding the Pittsburgh 7-footer to nine points and nine boards.
Orange senior Demetris Nichols saw his scoring average dip a little with 11 points versus the Panthers. He still is averaging better than 19 points per game and ranks second in the league in scoring behind Villanova’s Curtis Sumpter. Nichols needs 31 points to reach 1,000 for his career.
Marquette, now in its second season in the BIG EAST, reeled off eight wins to start the year, including a 73-62 triumph against Duke, before losing its first contest of season on Dec. 2 to North Dakota State.
Coach Tom Crean is in his eighth season at Marquette. He brings a 154-79 record into Sunday’s pairing. Marquette has made the NCAA Tournament in three of the last five years.
Like Syracuse, Marquette is looking for its first conference win of 2006-07. The Golden Eagles lost at Providence on Jan. 4, 74-59. Sophomore guards Dominic James (16.7 ppg.) and Jerel McNeal (14.5) are the two top scorers, but the Golden Eagles were without McNeal for the Providence game because of a head injury. Forward Wesley Matthews is a third double-digit scorer in the lineup (11.7 ppg.) and the club’s second-leading rebounder (5.4 rpg.)
It will be the first match-up between the two teams since 1985. SU owns a 3-2 edge in the overall series with the Golden Eagles. The Orange won a home encounter in 1985, 71-53, and also beat Marquette in the 1981 NIT, 88-81. Marquette squeezed a win between those two losses in the series, 79-68 in 1983. The two programs split games played in 1942 and 1943.
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