Golden Eagles, Deacons In Search Of Momentum At Joel Coliseum
12/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2001
Either Marquette or Wake Forest will have its first losing streak of the season Saturday after the two ranked teams meet at Winston Salem, N.C.
The 19th-ranked Golden Eagles (10-1) saw their best start in four years end with an 86-73 loss at Wisconsin last Saturday. Dwyane Wade scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half after being limited to six first-half minutes due to foul trouble.
"If they called them, they were" the right calls, said Wade, who was whistled for three charges among his four fouls. The sophomore swingman leads the team with 19.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
There was some good news for Marquette, which nearly erased all of a 20-point deficit in the second half before fading down the stretch. Cordell Henry added 16 points for the Golden Eagles, who allowed a season high in points while letting the Badgers shoot 58 percent from the field.
Marquette is allowing opponents to shoot only 39.4 percent from the field for the season.
Wake Forest, ranked 25th, suffered a 72-60 loss at St. John's last Saturday. Darius Songaila scored 17 points and Josh Howard added 15 for the Demon Deacons (8-3), who overcame an 11-point deficit in the first half, only to squander a five-point lead in the final 8:12.
"We had plenty of chances to keep the lead and even build on it," Demon Deacons coach Skip Prosser said. "But (St. John's guard Marcus) Hatten's a big-time player. This is disheartening. This is disappointing."
Songaila and Howard have formed an imposing frontcourt tandem for the Deacons, combining to average 31.4 points and 15.2 rebounds. In addition, both players are shooting nearly 55 percent from the field.
Wake Forest has been dominant at home this season, winning all six games by an average of 19.5 points and scoring 91.7 points per game. The Deacons have won 21 straight non-conference home games since losing to Arkansas on Dec. 23, 1998.
The Deacons lead the all-time series 5-4. This is the first meeting between the teams since Wake Forest posted a 70-67 home victory in the 1988-89 season.