March 13, 2008

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The No. 24/25 Marquette University men's basketball team continues play at the 2008 BIG EAST Championship presented by Aeropostale Thursday night at 8 p.m. CT when the squad faces No. 3 seed Notre Dame at Madison Square Garden. The Golden Eagles will be looking to post two victories in the event for the first time since joining the league in 2005-06. ESPN will broadcast Marquette's 15th national television appearance of the season, with Dan Shulman (play-by-play) and Len Elmore (analyst) calling the action. The Marquette/Notre Dame winner will advance to play the Louisville/Pittsburgh winner Friday night at 9 p.m. in semifinal action. The Golden Eagles and Fighting Irish split the season series, with each team winning on its home court.

Tournament History Provides Mixed Results
Marquette's conference affiliations date back to the 1989-90 campaign, making the program's postseason tournament experiences rather limited in number.

The Golden Eagles are 14-17 overall in league tourneys, competing in events associated with the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, Great Midwest Conference, Conference USA and BIG EAST Conference. MU's lone title came in 1997 when the squad claimed four victories en route to the C-USA Tournament Championship. Marquette is 2-2 all-time in BIG EAST action.

Marquette has earned the No. 6 seed for the second-straight season. In 2006-07, MU defeated No. 11 St. John's 76-67 before falling the next night to No. 3 Pittsburgh, 89-79.

The Golden Eagles concluded the regular season tied with West Virginia for fifth place, but WVU's victory in the only meeting between the two programs secured the No. 5 seed for the Mountaineers.

MU Rebounds Way To Victory Over Seton Hall
Struggling with its shooting touch Thursday night in the matchup with Seton Hall, Marquette hit the boards at both ends of the court to help carry the squad to a victory.

The Golden Eagles finished with an impressive 56-37 advantage in rebounding and 25 of the caroms came at the offensive end. The team's 56 total caroms marked a season high, as did the squad's 25 offensive boards. It was truly a team rebounding effort against the Pirates. Of the 12 players to see action for the Golden Eagles, 11 grabbed at least two rebounds.

Hayward Has Double Vision For The Fifth Time
Sophomore forward Lazar Hayward collected his team-leading fifth double-double in the win over Seton Hall and he has accomplished that feat in two of the last three outings.

Hayward finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes of action. He knocked down 5-of-6 free throw attempts, including a pair of late conversions.

The Buffalo, N.Y., native had 18 points and 11 rebounds in the regular season home finale against Florida Gulf Coast.