Rivalries hold different weight to different teams. One of the teams usually places more emphasis on the match-up than the other team.

Marquette might circle games against Notre Dame and Wisconsin on its calendar each year, but Notre Dame and Wisconsin likely have different opponents that they look forward to each season.

To an extent, the same holds true for the Marquette men's basketball team's Saturday match-up against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

"Its just the next game of the schedule," senior guard Wesley Matthews said. "But we still don't forget about those bragging rights."

The Panthers lost Torre Johnson, Paige Paulson and Marcus Skinner from a season ago — the team's first, second and fourth leading scorers, respectively. The trio combined for 38.6 points and 20.3 rebounds per game last season. The team's leading assist man, Ricky Franklin (2.56 per game), is returning but the senior guard averaged only 9.8 points on 34 percent shooting.

So far this season UW-Milwaukee has been led by newcomers Tone Boyle and Tony Meier.

Boyle is a 6-foot-2, 175-pound junior college transfer from Highland Community College and through three games this season is averaging 16.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg and two steals per game, while shooting 42.9 percent from behind the 3-point line.

Meier, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound freshman forward, missed the Panthers' last game against Iowa State with the flu but is averaging 13 ppg and 9 rpg, while shooting 52.6 percent from the field. Meier is also unafraid to step outside and hit 3-pointer; he is 6-for-12 through two games this season.

"He gives us that four man that can stretch the defense," said Panthers coach Rob Jeter in an interview with the UW-Milwaukee athletic department. "It's impressive."

The Panthers, like the Golden Eagles, are on the shorter side – the team's tallest starter is Meier. So it will be interesting to see if the Marquette can stay out of foul trouble when matched up against an opponent comparable in size.

The Golden Eagles racked up 27 fouls Monday against Chicago State and saw four players — Lazar Hayward, Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews and Maurice Acker — end with four fouls.

"We spend an inordinate amount of time talking about defending without fouling," Golden Eagles coach Buzz Williams said after the team's win over Chicago State.

Another major fouling culprit is senior center Dwight Burke, who has recorded seven fouls in just 26 minutes so far this season, while pulling down only five rebounds and taking only one field goal.

As a result of Burke's poor play, as well as an injury to freshman center Chris Otule, the 6-foot-7 Patrick Hazel has seen significant minutes at the five spot. Hazel has filled in admirably, but Williams has shied away from overly praising him, maintaining that the sophomore still has room for improvement.

But Saturday's game won't be about post play. It is common knowledge that Golden Eagles strength lies in its guard play, but the same goes for the Panthers. Through three games this season the Panthers have taken 80 3-pointers and are shooting 38.8 percent from behind the arc.

So while the Golden Eagles may not have circled this game on their calendar this season, if they don't find a way to improve on the defensive end — opponents are averaging 75.5 points per game — they could be circling UW-Milwaukee on next year's calendar.

"It's not acceptable. It's not acceptable now and it's not going to be acceptable when conference play starts," Matthews said. "We have to be disciplined and focus on our defensive philosophy."