The Dayton Flyers open a four-game home stand as the Marquette Golden Eagles come to town on Saturday evening for an 8:00pm tip. The Flyers are hoping to even up their home record and restore the hostile image of the Dayton Decibel Dungeon. While many fans may have expected the Flyers to be 7-4 on the season, they never would have suspected a 5-1 road record and just 2-3 at home. Marquette enters the contest 5-4, and is 0-1 away from Milwaukee. They dropped their previous road matchup to Xavier by a score of 75-59.

The Flyers are coming off an impressive pounding of a less-than-impressive Louisville Cardinal squad. To maintain their intensity, Coach Purnell had the team conducting two-a-day practices this week after returning Tuesday evening from the Christmas break.

The Flyers will need the in-your-face defensive effort they showed last Saturday to handle Marquette. Brain Wardle, a 6’5″ senior guard, leads the team in scoring with 16 plus a game, and is an excellent three-point threat if given room to shoot. He will post up inside and put the ball on the floor if crowded at the three point line – just 33% of Wardle’s attempts come from behind the arc. He is deadly if he gets to the free throw line, converting 80% of his attempts on the year. Wardle finds scoring much more difficult when matched up against quicker players. Wardle was 7 of 22 from the field in Marquette’s loss to Xavier. The defensive assignment will most likely fall to Tony Stanley who will look to repeat his performance against Marcus Maybin.Cordell Henry, a 5’10″ junior, mans the point.

Henry is one of the few Eagles to possess outstanding quickness. Henry is the second leading scorer at 10 a game, most of his points coming in transition or drives to the hoop. He leads the team in assists with 3 per game. Henry converts just under 30% of his three point attempts. Henry is prone to committing errors, as evidenced by his 2 turnover a game average. However, the Flyers have not been particularly adept at forcing turnovers this season. Louisville, prone to committing costly turnovers all season, committed just 11 against the Flyers.Brian Barone, a 6’ 0’’ senior, is the primary guard off the bench. His main role has been to provide rest for Wardle and Henry and to limit mistakes while in the game. Barone averages just over 10 minutes, and just under 2 points a game.Oluoma Nnamaka, Scott Merritt, and Odartey Blankson man the front line. They are joined by Jon Harris and John Mueller off the bench. All four players average between 5 and 6 boards a game. Blankson is a 6’6″ freshman wing, averaging 6 points. He hasn’t shown to be much of a three-point threat, converting just over 20%, and shoots just 30% from the field overall. Merritt is a highly regarded 6’10″ freshman center. He’s shown a nice touch inside, converting nearly 50% of his attempts and will take an occasional trey.

Merritt has also been an exceptional passer for a freshman center, averaging nearly an assist a game. Nnamaka, a 6’7″ forward from Sweden, is primarily an inside threat, setting screens and getting to the offensive glass. He averages nearly 3 offensive boards a game, and is the third leading scorer at 9 a game.As in prior years, Marquette prefers a patient halfcourt style. They emphasize mistake-free ball in the offensive halfcourt and try to limit transition opportunities for their opponent. Defensively, they tend to play a contain man-to-man and force teams to keep the ball on the perimeter. As always, Marquette tends to be a strong rebounding team on both ends of the floor. To be successful, the Flyers will need to deny penetration to Henry, crowd Wardle, and limit the Eagles to one shot. On offense, the Flyers need to run when the opportunity is presented, and the halfcourt set must get the ball inside and emphasize continuous movement.