Late doing this, I know. Wanted to do it yesterday, but everything seemed to be about 4-6 hours behind.
You can see the game notes for Pitt and Marquette (PDF). Obviously the 2003 Sweet 16 game is a subplot/storyline. Though, since Marquette won the game, they are playing it up a little more:
Unlike some of its BIG EAST matchups, Marquette’s meeting with no. 12/10 Pittsburgh will not be the first between the two schools in recent history. The Golden Eagles and Panthers hooked up on Marquette’s way to the Final Four in 2003 in a hotly contested round of 16 contest in Minneapolis.
Marquette head coach Tom Crean remembers Pittsburgh as an aggressive, tough-minded team, something he says carries over to the Panthers’ team of today.
“That was one of the most fierce battles of basketball that I’ve ever been a part of,” Crean said referring to the two team’s NCAA meeting. “Their system is in place for them to be great defensively and to be highly efficient offensively. When I say the system is in place, its the toughness that never changes.”
I’m really not able to talk about this.
Greg Doyel at Sportsline lists this in his top ten weekend games to watch.
Marquette at No. 12 Pittsburgh: Most surprising team in college basketball? It’s one of these two. Marquette and Pittsburgh are a combined 31-6, and you couldn’t combine their rosters and get a team that would beat Duke. (No way Marquette beat UConn. No possible way.) Pittsburgh’s an NCAA Tournament lock. Marquette, even more shockingly, is moving in that direction. Crazy. Pittsburgh’s winning with older guys like Carl Krauser, who turns 30 next month. Marquette’s doing it with whippersnappers like Steve Novak, who looks 14, and Dominic James, who is 14. Pick: Geezers.
The paper in Syracuse picks today’s game as the “must watch” in the Big East.
Watch this game: Marquette at Pittsburgh
Two of the Big East’s biggest surprises face each other on Saturday as Marquette travels to Pittsburgh. The Golden Eagles are off to a 5-2 start in the conference, while Pitt is 5-1.
Marquette drew some attention with its upset of Connecticut in the conference opener. Since then, the Golden Eagles’ victories have come against DePaul (twice), Seton Hall and Notre Dame – teams with a combined Big East record of 4-14.
After suffering its first loss of the season on Saturday at St. John’s, Pittsburgh bounced back with a decisive victory over Syracuse on Monday. Because it’s a home game, this is an important contest for the Panthers, who travel to Connecticut and Georgetown next week.
They also speculate as to what else this game could determine.
Early front-runners for conference coach of the year? Pitt’s Jamie Dixon, Marquette’s Tom Crean. Panthers (16-1, 5-1), Golden Eagles (15-5, 5-2) were picked by coaches to finish seventh, 12th, respectively. They’ll meet Saturday at The Pete. They met in a dandy in the 2003 Elite 8, and Crean’s team went to the Final Four with a three-point win in Ben Howland’s last game as Pitt’s coach (Dixon was associate head coach).
It was the Sweet 16. Don’t they have editors for this stuff?
The Marquette Scout.com site has a pretty good preview of Pitt. They seemed to have done more than simply look at some preview guides and check the records.
The best match-up preview comes courtesy of Big East Basketball Blog.
One of the areas in which the Panthers tend to struggle is in allowing too much dribble penetration from opposing guards. One of Marquette’s biggest strengths is their ability to breakdown defenses off the dribble led by freshmen guards Dominic James and Jerel McNeal. James is by far and away the leading candidate for freshmen of the year in the Big East conference is listed at only 5’9, but he is one of the quickest and most athletic point guards you will see…
Read all of it.
