Billy Owens was the BIG EAST Player of the Year in 1991.
Owens Tribute Set for Saturday's Regular-Season Finale Against #21/20 Marquette
3/7/2008 10:49:38 AM | Men's Basketball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Orange men’s basketball team (18-12, 8-9) will host #21/20 Marquette (22-7, 11-6) in its final regular-season game of the 2007-08 campaign on Saturday, March 8 at 4 p.m. SU halted a three-game losing streak and kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive with an 85-73 win at Seton Hall Wednesday.
A pair of special events will surround Saturday’s affair. First, it’s Senior Day and the Orange will honor walk-on Ryan Cahak (Fayetteville, N.Y.) in a brief ceremony prior to tip off. Then, at halftime, SU legend Billy Owens will have his #30 jersey retired.
Owens was one of the stars of the great Orange teams in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. He still ranks 12th in career scoring (1,840 points) and lists in eighth in career rebounds (910). He earned All-America recognition in 1989-90 and was the BIG EAST Player of the Year in 1991.
Tickets for Saturday’s game can be purchased on-line (click here), over the phone (1-888-DOMETIX), or in person at the Carrier Dome Box Office during normal business hours.
For those that can’t make it to the Dome, Voice of the Orange Matt Park will have the call on the Syracuse ISP Network’s flagship (TK-99.5 FM) with the pre-game show beginning 90 minutes before tipoff. The radio network broadcast is available live on Orange All-Access. The game will also be televised live nationally on ESPN.
The Orange rebounded from its loss to Pittsburgh by going on the road and beating Seton Hall in its first trip to the Prudential Center. Rebounding was the story as the Orange secured 54 boards to just 29 for the Pirates. Syracuse held the advantage in offensive rebounds, 17-7, and out-scored Seton Hall, 46-24, in the paint.
Freshman Donte’ Greene (Baltimore, Md.) totaled 19 points and a career-best 13 rebounds in the contest. He was one of three SU players to finish with double-digit rebounds. Sophomore center Arinze Onuaku (Lanham, Md.) grabbed 14 boards and contributed 17 points, while forward Kristof Ongenaet (Ghent, Belgium) posted the first double-double of his SU career with 10 points and 11 caroms.
It was the second straight solid outing for Greene, who finished with 23 points against Pittsburgh. The power forward is averaging 16.4 points per game against league foes. He is one of three Orange to boast at least a 15.0 scoring average in league play. Classmate Jonny Flynn (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) leads SU in BIG EAST scoring average (16.5 ppg) and sophomore Paul Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) owns a mark of 15.9 ppg.
Marquette will likely be the fifth or six seed in next week’s BIG EAST Championship and enters Saturday’s game with six wins in its last seven outings. Its only loss in that stretch was by two points to Georgetown in overtime on March 1.
The Golden Eagles boast a balanced scoring attack with guards Dominic James (13.5 ppg), Jerel McNeal (13.3) and forward Lazar Hayward (13.1 ppg) each averaging better than 13 points per game. Wesley Matthews give Marquette a fourth double-digit scorer at 11.3 points per outing. Hayward is the team’s best rebounder at 6.4 boards per game.
The Orange owns a 4-2 advantage in the all-time series with Marquette and is 3-0 in games contested in Syracuse.
The two teams have met just once since the Golden Eagles joined the BIG EAST Conference two seasons ago. The Orange prevailed, 70-58, in that matchup last year at the Bradley Center.
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