Marquette wants to keep fun NIT ride going

Marquette is one of only 24 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams still playing. 

Though being in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals doesn't have the same cachet as playing in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, the Golden Eagles still don't want their journey to end.

MU (21-13) faces Penn State (23-13) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Al McGuire Center, with a trip to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York on the line.

"We put back-to-back wins together in March. That's a good thing," Golden Eagles coach Steve Wojciechowski said of NIT victories over Harvard and Oregon. "Like I said last game, we haven't had anybody who has won in a tournament in March.

"Now we have won twice and hopefully for our guys that's something to get them more excited to continue to do that."

The Nittany Lions, who upset top-seeded Notre Dame on Saturday, boast a terrific scorer in sophomore guard Tony Carr.

He was named to the all-Big Ten first team after leading the conference in scoring at 19.9 points per game.

Carr had 24 points against the Irish and has scored 20 or more in 15 games this season.

The Golden Eagles have their own high-scoring guard in senior Andrew Rowsey, who had 29 points and nine assists against Oregon in the second round.

"Andrew played like a senior who doesn't want his season to be over with," Wojciechowski said. "That's good because I don't want his season to be over with either."

Rowsey has 687 points this season. That places him fourth on the single-season scoring list at MU behind Dwyane Wade (710), Jerel McNeal (693) and Tony Smith (689).

"It's been a lot of fun," Rowsey said of the run in the NIT. "A lot of people say it's pressure. But I look at pressure as a good thing. Pressure makes diamonds. For us, it's just live one day at a time. Play one game at a time and see where it takes you." 

Rowsey's teammates don't want to stop playing with the senior.

"We start with him, that's kind of our rock," sophomore wing Sacar Anim said. "He came out firing (against Oregon). He's a terrific player when he gets that shot going. He's one of the toughest players to guard in the country. And the way he was dishing the ball got other guys going."

A few minutes earlier, sophomore guard Markus Howard said the same things about Rowsey.

"When you have a guy like that it just gives us life," Howard said.

While Howard was talking in MU's locker room, Rowsey wandered into the media scrum with his iPhone and patiently waited to ask a question.

"Markus, when you wake up like this in the morning, does your hair stay like this or is it something you style?" Rowsey wondered.

"I take hair tips from Andrew Rowsey," Howard responded.

That interaction symbolized the joy and togetherness that this MU team has found playing in the NIT.

"I think it's fun," Wojciechowski said. "I think our guys are having fun, which is awesome. We've been preparing well. Guys have been working hard. The attitudes have been good.

"I don't want it to end. I really love this team. And they've grown in so many ways. And they've fought through adversity. Sam Hauser's playing on one leg. Greg (Elliott's) played the whole year with a broken thumb. 

"One thing you want as a coach is for these guys to give everything they are capable of giving at this moment. And this team has done it, so I hope to coach them for a while more."