March 8, 2004

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Series History
Marquette holds a 2-1 advantage over TCU in the all-time series after the Horned Frogs defeated the Golden Eagles 85-79 on Feb. 3 in Milwaukee. The two schools had not met prior to becoming C-USA league partners in 2001-02. Marquette won each of the first two meetings, one in Milwaukee and one in Fort Worth, by 11 points. The two teams have never met in conference tournament action.

The Earlier Meeting This Season
TCU picked up its biggest road victory of the Neil Dougherty era and one of the best in recent memory on Feb. 3 at Marquette. Marquette owned a 10-1 home record at the time and had won 41 of their last 43 in the Bradley Center over the last three years prior to the Frogs' upset win. Before TCU, the only teams to leave Milwaukee with a 'W' in the last three years were then-No. 2 Louisville (73-70) on Feb. 15, 2003 and then-seventh-rated Cincinnati (85-73) on Jan. 14, 2004. TCU led the game from wire to wire and Corey Santee iced the game by making all six of his free throw attempts in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory. Marcus Shropshire made his first four three-point attempts in the first seven minutes of the game and finished with a game-high 20 points.

Got One of Two Against the Final Four
TCU played two of the four teams that appeared in the 2003 NCAA Final Four, Kansas and Marquette, and split the two games. TCU had a second-half lead against KU on Dec. 1 before falling 85-66 and earned an 85-79 road victory over MU on Feb. 3.

TCU Individuals Against Marquette
Below is a list of how TCU players have done in their previous meetings with Marquette. Player G PPG High Other
Marcus Shropshire 1 20.0 20 2.0 rpg
Aaron Curtis 1 15.0 15 3.0 rpg
Corey Santee 3 13.0 18 4.3 apg
Nucleus Smith 3 12.7 16 4.3 rpg
Chudi Chinweze 2 9.5 13 3.0 rpg
Blake Adams 1 3.0 3 1.0 rpg
Corey Valsin 3 2.0 4 2.0 rpg
Marcus Sloan 3 0.0 0 0.3 rpg
Femi Ibikunle 1 0.0 0 6.0 rpg
David Markley 1 0.0 0 0.0 rpg
Art Pierce 1 0.0 0 1.0 rpg
Neil P. Dougherty DNP

TCU's Conference USA Tournament History
TCU has played in just one Conference USA Tournament previously, and that was in 2002 event which also took place in Cincinnati. The Horned Frogs suffered a 110-86 defeat in the opening round to Louisville. TCU was seeded 10th, while Louisville was No. 7.

TCU's All-Time Conference Tournament History
Since conference tournament play began for the Southwest Conference in 1976, TCU owns an all-time postseason tourney record of 21-31. TCU was 16-25 in the SWC, went 5-5 in the Western Athletic Conference and is 0-1 in Conference USA action. TCU's last postseason win came in 2000 when the Horned Frogs defeated WAC foe San Jose State 84-71 on Mar. 9 in Fresno, Calif. TCU has never won a conference tournament title and has played in the championship game just twice. The last time TCU advanced to the final game of a league tournament was in 1997 when the Horned Frogs suffered an 89-68 loss to Utah on Mar. 8, 1997 in Las Vegas, Nev.

What a Road Trip
TCU's final two games of the season were on the road against the top two home teams in the conference. Memphis finished the year 15-0 at home overall and 8-0 in C-USA play, while UAB had a 14-1 record at home and 7-1 mark in league action. TCU wrapped up the home portion of the 2003-04 schedule with an 8-9 overall record and a 4-4 mark in C-USA play. The Horned Frogs played 14 of their first 18 games in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum before having six of their final nine games on the road prior to the conference tournament. Since noon on Tuesday, Mar. 2, the TCU team has spent a total of just 69 hours (including nights) in Fort Worth.

One Away From 1,000
TCU is just one victory shy of the 1,000th in the program's 93-year history. The Horned Frogs currently own a 999-1140 all-time record.