March 3, 2009

Milwaukee -

MU-PITT Game Notes (PDF)

The No. 13/15 Marquette University men’s basketball team wraps up the road portion of its 2008-09 regular season campaign at No. 3/4 Pittsburgh. ESPN2 will feature the squad’s third-straight national television appearance, 12th overall, with Dan Shulman (play-by-play) and Dick Vitale (analyst) calling the action. Following Wednesday’s contest, MU returns home for Senior Day Saturday afternoon when the team hosts Syracuse.

Golden Eagles In Position To Earn Thursday Opener
MU is currently battling for a top-four finish in the BIG EAST regular season standings and the bye to the conference tourney quarterfinal that one of those coveted positions awards.

MU and Villanova are both competing for the final spot. With two victories to close the regular season, MU would claim the No. 4 seed. Should the team split its remaining games and if the Wildcats defeat Providence Thursday, VU would earn the No. 4 position, as long as the team the Golden Eagles defeats isn’t Pittsburgh. Since the squads split the season series, the tiebreaker looks at each program’s record starting against the first-place team, but because of the results in 2008-09, could go all the way to the eighth-place team.

Regardless of the results in the team’s final two games, the team has already assured itself of at worst a top-five seed in the tourney.

Matthews Continues Relentless Attack On The Rim
Senior Wesley Matthews finished 6-of-7 from the free throw line in the loss at Louisville, marking the 15th time this season he has made at least six charity tosses in a game and the 14th occasion he has attempted at least seven.

Matthews, whose season percentage (.815) currently ranks fifth in the BIG EAST, has attempted and made more free throws than any other player in the league. For the season (through games of March 1), he is 12th in the country in charity tosses made per game (5.9) and ranks 14th in attempts per outing (7.3).

The Madison, Wis., native is already the school’s all-time leader in converted free throws (508) and owns the No. 3 position in attempts (641).

Thanks to Matthews’ leadership, the Golden Eagles have more makes (538) as a team than their opponents have attempts (495) in 2008-09. As a team, Marquette ranks seventh in the country in free throws made per contests (18.6) and eighth in attempts per outing (26.2).

Hayward Doubles Up For Seventh Time This Season
Despite being undersized and playing extended minutes out of position, junior Lazar Hayward has managed to post consistent numbers against the physical post players the BIG EAST features on a nightly basis.

The 6-6 forward finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds in 30 minutes of action at Louisville, earning his seventh double-double of the campaign and 12th of his career. He shot 6-of-11 from the field and five of his boards came at the offensive end.

Hayward, who ranks among the league leaders in scoring (14th, 15.9 ppg.), rebounding (7th, 8.6 rpg.) and free throw percentage (4th, .825), owns three double-doubles in BIG EAST action. He has reached double figures in rebounds on four occasions during league outings. The Buffalo, N.Y., native has topped the roster in rebounding in 23 of the squad’s games this year.