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Pirate Notebook No. 48
Wednesday, February 6, 2002

By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist

Tom Crean began to sense it as he approached the Bradley Center parking lot for Marquette's Conference USA showdown against Cincinnati on Saturday. The Golden Eagles' third year head coach felt his program was nearing a return to its glory days of the past.

As he got closer, there was visual evidence that Marquette was on the verge of something big � really big.

"It hit me as I was driving to the game," Crean said. "To see all the people that were lining up, it reminded me of driving to a Bucks playoff game. To see the sense of urgency that was there with the crowd � that's what made me feel great."

Crean, along with the record crowd of 18,698, felt even better after the Golden Eagles pummeled then-fourth ranked Cincinnati by 14. The win ended a 20-game winning streak by the Bearcats and marked the eighth-straight win for the Golden Eagles.

The Golden Eagles were ranked for much of the season until falling out after a January 5 loss at Charlotte. But thanks to a smothering defense and steady improvement on the glass, Marquette hasn't lost since.

"Those are the two key components," Crean said. "That's what we really try to exemplify as much as we possibly can.

"I think our rebounding has gotten better, especially over the last month, and we've needed to. When we've struggled, we haven't rebounded as well. I still think we can get a lot better at offensive rebounding. That's one area that, statistically, we're not as good as I hoped we would be."

Though Crean sees room for improvement, Marquette remains one of C-USA's best on the glass. Halfway through the conference season, the Golden Eagles are out-rebounding foes by an average of six boards per game, which ranks third in C-USA.

MU is also among the conference leaders defensively. The Golden Eagles are yielding just under 60 points per game, which ranks second in C-USA, while allowing opponents to hit on just 39 percent of their shots, good enough for third best in the league.

Much of MU's defensive success is a direct reflection on the play of unheralded point guard Cordell Henry, who has more than held his own against some of the nation's premiere perimeter players.

"There are a lot of reasons for why our team is playing well, and he (Henry) certainly is near the top of the list," Crean said. "The thing that I've been most pleased with him this year is the way he wants the challenge of guarding other teams' very good players.

"That really started in Alaska. He really wanted the challenge of guarding someone as great as (Gonzaga guard) Dan Dickau. He built some confidence there that helps you prepare to play the Steve Logans of the world."

In Marquette's victory over Gonzaga in the Great Alaskan Shootout championship game, Henry held Dickau to ten points on four of ten shooting, which is well under his season average. Saturday against Cincinnati, Henry's frustrated Logan all afternoon long, holding the senior All-America to 15 points on seven of 17 shooting.

But unlike most defensive specialists, Henry is by no means one-dimensional. The 5-10 senior has honed his offensive skills this season, directing an attack that is shooting a league-best 48 percent from the field.

"His leadership is maturing all the time, and he is maturing more as a player," Crean said. "He does a great job of running our offense, and at the same time finding ways to create for himself. He's excellent at getting into the lane and finding ways to get shots, or ways to get other people shots.

"From where we started in practice to where we are at right now, he's certainly one of the most improved players, and he was already pretty good. That's a great sign of a guy that is getting better during the course of a season."

Crean hopes that trend of steady improvement continues tonight against East Carolina, as Marquette will be looking to push its home record to a perfect 13-0.

East Carolina's six-point win over C-USA foe Saint Louis could go a long way towards helping the Pirates achieve a primary objective � earning a spot in the league tournament. For that to happen, the Pirates will need to protect their home floor down the stretch.

"We still want to get to this conference tournament in March," ECU head coach Bill Herrion said. "That's our goal. What we need to do here the last eight, nine games of the season is try to win as many games as we can, particularly the home games."

The Pirates took a giant step in the right direction by beating the Billikens on Saturday. In doing so, Herrion deployed a zone defense down the stretch, which helped ECU erase a ten-point deficit.

Still, Herrion nullifies the notion that his second-half strategy was the lone source for the Pirates' victory.

"They had us down a good six or eight points in the second half at home, and we went to a 2-3 zone the last 12 minutes of the game," Herrion said. "But I don't think it was the zone defense per se that won the game. I think Saint Louis just couldn't put the ball in the basket."

Still, you have to credit the Pirates' defensive switch-a-roo as the catalyst for the Billikens' shooting woes.

The zone could become a strategic part of the Pirates' defensive plans down the stretch. Though tough man-to-man defenses have been the cornerstone for Herrion-coached teams over the years, ECU's third-year head coach recognizes the need to mix it up defensively, especially when facing teams with veteran frontcourts.

"We've gone to the 2-3 zone for a couple of reasons," Herrion said. "Number one, we have a very young frontcourt. At times we are starting a freshman and two sophomores up front.

"I think what we are learning in our first year in this league is that it is very hard to win games in this league with young kids. When you have good seniors that show the way and lead the way for the younger kids, that's such a positive thing. You can't put a price tag on that, and that's something that we're really kind of lacking here right now."

An active 2-3 zone could come in handy tonight against Marquette, which boasts a corps of perimeter players capable of beating defenders off the dribble, to go along with a stable of frontcourt horses that have the propensity to dominate the glass.

"Can we go play Marquette man-to-man for 40 minutes at their place on the road?" Herrion asked. "I don't think we can do that. We have to do right now anything we can do to win basketball games. Anything we can do to make this basketball team successful, we're going to do that."