Feb. 3, 2007

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes |  Photo Gallery 1  |  Photo Gallery 2 

Marquette

Head Coach Tom Crean
"We keep saying it to our team and they believe it. Any BIG EAST win is great. This team is talented and takes no back seat to knowing. For us to get the rebounding margin today is such a big thing. I thought our guys displayed a very workmanlike effort on defense. The most important this is that our guys played good pressure defense."

On having Jerel McNeal this time around against Providence...
"He is such an energy source and creates so many things when he is in the game. He is quick and can shoot the ball at a high level. We don't want t o play without any of them."

On the Dwayne Wade jersey retirement...
"It was nice that I got a chance to see the end of it. You can never do justice to that in a pre-game. I am just proud of him. He is such a great person. He has all the material things and he is such a family person, whether it be the Heat family, Marquette family or his own family."

"Every game is hard. Every team is capable of winning against anybody. For our guys to be able to win against a very good team where we have match-up issues, I think it says a lot. There is no panic in these guys and it shows a great deal of maturity."

"Providence got a lot of rebounds in the first half and we did a much better job in the second half. We weren't going to beat them unless we took the fight to them because they are very good."

Jerel McNeal
"We wanted to come out here and focus on our opponent, take it one game at a time. There were stretches in the first half that we were on the verge of breaking the game open, but couldn't quite get there. We did a great job attacking the zone today and everyone showed up."

"I am always looking for the next big play, knowing when it's time to turn it up. It's not about me as an individual, it's about all four guys on the court."

"Guys in the locker room know what time of team we have. We have so many options and so many good players. It is all about the team concept. We start coming out with a defensive mindset and turn teams over, we are a hard team to beat."

On having Dwyane Wade at the game...
"It was a real emotional day for him and we didn't want to mess that up by losing. He means so much to this university and this program. He makes everyone on the court want to play hard."

Advice from Wade...
"He told us to enjoy ourselves. The next level isn't anything like college. He said some of the best times of his life were in college. I try and enjoy the guys and have fun."

Dan Fitzgerald
"Someone is going to make a big play when we need it and we never know who it is going to come from."

"My teammates have been telling me that I am not shooting enough. When they really press on it, that means you have to do it."

"We are all doing it together. When we move the ball together, we have so many playmakers and something good is going to happen. It starts on `D', but when you are aggressive on offense, good things come."

"Every game in the BIG EAST is huge and any one can win in any game. We need to keep doing what we are doing and be ready for whatever the next team is going to throw at us."

Providence

Head Coach Tim Welsh
"We came into the game knowing we had to play very well to win in this building as Marquette is playing very well. They were playing aggressively. We dominated them on the boards in the first game and they did today. They were going to the glass a lot harder than we had, and you have to be able to match that, but we didn't until it was too late."