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Marquette hosts surprising West Virginia

Jan 13, 2007 - 2:33 PM No. 21 West Virginia (13-2) at Marquette (14-4) 12:00 pm EST

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) - No. 21 West Virginia looks to continue its surprising start when its faces Marquette in a Big East Conference contest on Saturday.

Picked to finish 12th among all schools, West Virginia has won three of its first four Big East games despite four new starters.

The Mountaineers (13-2, 3-1 Big East) is coming off a 61-58 loss to No. 22 Notre Dame on Tuesday. Alex Ruoff scored 14 points and Frank Young added 13 for West Virginia, which is in third place in the standings. Young leads his team in scoring at 14.5 points per game.

Marquette (14-4, 1-2) beat No. 24 Connecticut, 74-69, in Storrs on Tuesday. Jerel McNeal scored 19 points and Dominic James and Ousmane Barro each tallied 17 for the Golden Eagles, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Barro also grabbed 13 rebounds for Marquette, which held Connecticut to 32 percent shooting.

Last season, West Virginia made a Big East- and school-record 20 3-pointers in its 104-85 home rout of Marquette. The teams have split four all-time meetings, with the home team victorious each time.