The Golden Eagles face an old friend in their first NCAA Tournament game.
The Marquette Golden Eagles will swoop into the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. The 9-seeded Golden Eagles are tasked with a toughie, as 8-seeded North Carolina await them. The winner of this game is going to have their hands full though. A likely matchup looms with reigning National Champion Baylor, the top seed in their region.
How to watch Marquette vs. UNC
Day: Thursday, March 17
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
TV: TBS
Watch Online: March Madness Live
Betting Odds
(courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Spread: UNC -3.5 | Marquette +3.5
Total: 152.5
Moneyline: UNC -170 | Marquette +150
In Shaka Smart’s first season as head coach, Marquette succeeded. The Golden Eagles went 19-12 this season with an 11-8 mark in conference play. They picked off a few NCAA Tournament teams in Illinois, Seton Hall twice, and Villanova. The Golden Eagles were ousted in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals by Creighton but still can hang their hat on a lot this season.
North Carolina had their share of ups and downs this season. A home win over Michigan was one of their bigger wins of the nonconference season. ACC play started and it was a little bit topsy-turvy at first. However, they rallied to win 11 of their final 13 conference games. That of course includes the rip-roaring 94-81 win at Cameron Indoor against Duke in Coach K’s last home game. They’ll hold onto that win forever in Chapel Hill.
This could prove to be a fun game. I think if Marquette were to win this game, then Morsell and Justin Lewis need to be the reasons why. They are MU’s go-to-guys, and in Morsell’s case, veteran presence will likely matter a whole lot for MU.