According to the AP Preview. So, is Burke outpracticing Ooze, out-hustling him, or is a kick in the ass by Crean?
Regardless...only 17 hours till the season officially starts!!
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By NICOLINO DI BENEDETTO, STATS Writer
Marquette hopes the return of Dominic James and the rest of its starting lineup can help it improve upon two straight NCAA first-round tournament exits Saturday night when it opens the 2007-08 season against IUPUI.
The 11th-ranked Golden Eagles began last season with an eight-game winning streak, en route to victories in 21 of their first 25 games before a disappointing 3-6 stretch ended with first-round eliminations from both the Big East and NCAA tournaments.
James, the team's leading scorer with 14.9 points per game, declared for the NBA draft, but changed his mind after a lackluster performance at the pre-draft workouts and returned for his junior season.
The Golden Eagles haven't advanced in the NCAA tournament since their run to the Final Four in 2003. In James' two seasons, they lost in the first round in 2006 to Alabama and last season to Michigan State, a 61-49 loss in which Marquette didn't score for nearly the first 10 minutes.
"If I decided to leave last year, I'd have been pretty upset and would've regretted it because that's not the legacy I want to leave here at Marquette," James said. "I felt like winning was going to take care of everything. As far as my dreams and things like that, I looked at the roster coming back and I knew this was a team I could come back and win and take deep in the tournament.
"I really believe that if this team doesn't make to a Sweet Sixteen or a Final Four, it's a failure."
The Golden Eagles return all five starters and their top seven scorers, including junior guards Wesley Matthews (12.6 ppg) and Jerel McNeal (14.7 ppg) -- who complete the team's three-man backcourt with James.
"I don't want to take anything away from what this group as a relatively young group has done, but they're not young anymore and they need to play that way," said Marquette coach Tom Crean, who is beginning his ninth season.
Crean has installed a quick, up-tempo offense in the absence of a strong presence in the paint, and the team was dealt a blow to its inside game when freshman forward Trevor Mbakwe was ruled out for the season with a left knee injury.
"That's what we want to live by, speed," Matthews said. "We've been pushing it since we set foot on this campus. Now, it's just getting a little bit faster with more athletes."
The guards are expected to be joined by forwards Dan Fitzgerald and Dwight Burke in Saturday's lineup. Burke came off the bench in all 34 games last season, but the junior is listed ahead of senior Ousmane Barro, who started all 34 games in 2006-07 and led the team with 6.9 rebounds per game.
IUPUI, meanwhile, is the preseason favorite to win the newly renamed Summit League as it seeks its second ever NCAA tournament berth and first since 2003.
The Jaguars, who went 15-15 last season, are expected to rely on their own backcourt trio of Austin Montgomery, Gary Patterson and a healthy George Hill -- the Summit League preseason player of the year. Hill was limited to five games with a foot injury in 2006-07, a season after leading IUPUI with 18.9 points per game.
"We think George is one of the best guards in the country, but we're more than just George Hill," IUPUI coach Ron Hunter said. "From top to bottom, this is one of the best teams in school history -- we're anxious to go out and prove it."
The Golden Eagles have won six season openers in a row, dating to a 67-54 home defeat to South Alabama to start 2000-01. The Jaguars have lost all five matchups with ranked opponents by an average of 20.8 points.