Final Stats

March 15, 2004

MILWAUKEE (AP)- Marquette is hoping to have as much success in the NIT this season as it had in the NCAA tournament last year.

Travis Diener scored 21 points and tied a career high with 12 assists to lead Marquette over Toledo 87-72 in the first round of the NIT on Monday night.

The Golden Eagles (18-11) are the first team since Minnesota in 1998 to fall to the NIT after making the Final Four a year earlier.

"If you're a competitor and you love to play the game, then this is the time of year no matter what you're doing," coach Tom Crean said. "We have to see where it can lead us."

Marquette will host either Rice, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, UNLV or Boise State next week in the second round.

"There's 65 teams playing in the NCAA field this year and we're not one of them," said Diener, who made eight of 15 shots, had seven rebounds and only one turnover. "There are remarkable teams playing in the NIT this year, though."

Toledo (20-11) made nine of its first 15 shots in the second half. The Rockets then went more than eight minutes without a field goal, missing 12 consecutive shots before Justin Ingram scored on a layup to make it 87-69 with 2:33 to go.

"We went a couple of stretches where we had some scoring droughts," Toledo coach Stan Joplin said. "We missed some shots and gave them some easy baskets."

While the Rockets couldn't make a field goal, Marquette went on a 14-0 run to go up 79-63 on Steve Novak's fast-break layup with 7:16 remaining.

"If things are going well offensively, they are going well defensively," Diener said.

Toledo fell behind by 17 points in the first half, but took a 55-54 lead with 15:46 left in the game.

"We hung with them until we had that drought," Joplin said.

Keith Triplett scored 20 points for the Rockets despite missing 10 of 16 shots. Florentino Valencia scored 13 points - all in the first half - and Sammy Villegas and Ricardo Thomas added 11 for Toledo.

Novak scored 17 points and Joe Chapman added 13 for the Golden Eagles.

Chris Grimm's 15-foot jumper gave Marquette a 38-21 lead with 7:27 left in the first half, but Toledo used a 20-7 run to pull within 45-41 at halftime.