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men_s_basketball:1994

1994-95 Season - NIT Champion Runner-Up

Season review

1994-95 marked a season of transistion and change for Marquette with a new head coach in Mike Deane and the Golden Eagles replacing the Warriors as the new nickname and logo.

Kevin O'Neill didn't leave the cupboards bare, as Deane inherited five players (and one incoming recruit) who would finish their careers as 1,000-point scorers (two of which would go on to the NBA). Marquette jumped off to a 6-0 start, only to falter to as low as 12-10. They then bounced back to win eight of their last nine games to finish with a 21-12 record for the season, including 7-5 in the Great Midwest Conference.

Despite the team's inconsistent offense, the Golden Eagles were carried by their resounding defense, which held opponents to just 38.2 percent from the field. Tony Miller, who Coach Deane considered the defensive player of the year, provided excellent defense on the perimeter, while Amal McCaskill and Faisal Abraham assisted inside.

Offensively, Deane's first year at the helm was a “three for all,” as Marquette set a school record for three point attempts with 703 shots. Junior Roney Eford led the team in scoring with 436 points and a 13.2 average. Sophomore Anthony Pieper finished a close second with 431 points and a 13.1 average per game. Tony Miller and Amal McCaskill finished with 356 (10.8) and 354 (10.7) points respectively.

Marquette faced only two ranked opponents all season, defeating both UW-Madison and Cincinnati.

NIT

Auburn's Lance Weems jacked up 11 three-pointers (a record for an MU opponent in the NIT), but Marquette rallied to beat Auburn in the NIT opener. Anthony Pieper went 10-16 from the foul line in the second round game against St. Bonaventure (both MU NIT records) as Marquette advanced triumphantly to the third round.

The third round game against South Florida was held at the MECCA rather than the Bradley Center, which evoked memories of past victories including the 25th anniversary of the last time Marquette took the NIT championship under head coach Al McGuire. Coach Deane also brought back Dean Meminger, the MVP of the 1970 tournament, for an inspirational pep talk. USF's Chuckie Atkins took 11 three-pointers (an MU NIT opponent record) and regulation time ended with a score of 43 apiece. Marquette was up 51-50 with 13 seconds to go when freshman Aaron Hutchins drained a three pointer to nail down the win. Roney Eford added a last second lay-up and a free throw to make the final score 57-50 as the loudspeakers played “New York, New York”. Tony Miller finished the game with 12 assists and Amal McCaskill added 15 rebounds and three blocked shots, all MU records for an NIT game.

Penn State knocked down 11 three-pointers, behind five from Dan Earl (both records for an MU opponent in an NIT game), but Marquette's powerful shooting pulled them through over the Nittany Lions in the semi-final at Madison Square Garden. Marquette tied a school record (and set an NIT record) of 15 three pointers, as they rallied after trailing by as many as 16 points. Aaron Hutchins dumped in 20 and Anthony Pieper posted a career high of 32 on seven of nine shooting from long range, as Marquette shot a blistering 68.2% from long range (all MU NIT records). Amal McCaskill also tied his MU NIT record with three blocked shots.

The NIT final against Virginia Tech went into overtime. Pieper hit a lay-up with eighteen seconds remaining to give Marquette a one point advantage. However, with 0.7 seconds on the clock Virginia Tech's Shawn Smith drew a shooting foul and made both free throws for the 65-64 victory. Virginia Tech's Shawn Good tallied four steals against Marquette and the Hokies shot 60% from three-point range (both NIT opponent records). McCaskill did tie an MU NIT record with 15 rebounds in the final game.

Schedule

DateOpponent ResultRecord
Nov 28UNLVW 82-74 1-0
Nov 30at Ohio StateW 82-70 2-0
Dec 2UW-MilwaukeeW 101-59 3-0First Bank Classic
Dec 3NorthwesternW 94-60 4-0First Bank Classic
Dec 6Fairleigh DickinsonW 96-74 5-0Marquette set the school record for three pointers in a game with 15
Dec 10at San FranciscoW 79-72 6-0
Dec 20Illinois ChicagoL 65-67 6-1
Dec 23CreightonW 82-50 7-1
Dec 31#19 UW-MadisonW 80-65 8-1Marquette set a Bradley Center team record for rebounds with 63. The Badgers also set a Bradley Center opponent record for rebounds, with 54.
Jan 5vs TempleL 57-69 8-2Busch Atlantic 10-Great Midwest Battle (Saint Louis, MO)
Jan 7UW-Green BayL 48-50 8-3
Jan 12CincinnatiL 64-91 8-4
Jan 15UABW 77-54 9-4
Jan 17Virginia TechL 54-57 9-5
Jan 20at DaytonW 70-58 10-5
Jan 22at Saint LouisL 73-81 10-6
Jan 28at DePaulL 48-63 10-7
Feb 5at #23 CincinnatiW 59-62 11-7
Feb 9Saint LouisL 48-55 11-8
Feb 11at West VirginiaL 76-78 11-9
Feb 16at UABW 80-70 12-9
Feb 18at Memphis StateL 71-77 12-10Marquette set a school record for three point field goal attempts (38)
Feb 21DePaulW 81-71 13-10
Feb 23DaytonW 70-59 14-10
Feb 25at Notre DameW 65-63 15-10
Mar 4Memphis StateW 80-61 16-10Tony Miller set Bradley Center and Marquette records with 17 assists
UABW 55-46 17-10GMC Tournament (Milwaukee)
Saint LouisL 56-73 17-11GMC Tournament (Milwaukee)
at AuburnW 68-61 18-11National Invitational Tournament (Auburn, AL)
Saint BonaventureW 70-61 19-11National Invitational Tournament (Milwaukee)
South FloridaW 57-50 20-11National Invitational Tournament (Milwaukee)
vs Penn StateW 87-79 21-11National Invitational Tournament (New York, NY)Marquette tied the school record for three pointers in a game with 15
vs Virginia TechL 64-65 21-12National Invitational Tournament (New York, NY)

Roster

Tony Miller Sr 6-0 G #10
William Gates Sr 6-0 G #22
Roney Eford Jr 6-6 G/F #13
Mark Harris Jr 5-8 G #33
Amal McCaskill Jr 6-11 C/F #00
Dwaine Streater Jr 6-8 F/C #4
Faisal Abraham So 6-7 F #40
Chris Crawford So 6-9 F #5
Anthony Pieper So 6-3 G #3
Aaron Hutchins Fr 5-10 G #12
Abel Joseph Fr 6-8 F #20
Zack McCall Fr 6-3 G #25
Richard Shaw Fr 6-11 C/F #34

Coaching Staff

Team Photo

men_s_basketball/1994.txt · Last modified: 2020/12/07 16:49 (external edit)