The #10 Marquette Golden Eagles are somehow facing the Villanova Wildcats in the Big East Tournament on Thursday night with tipoff scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET on FS1. Marquette is the third seed in this tournament and Villanova is the sixth seed in this tournament.
The Golden Eagles will be without point guard Tyler Kolek in this matchup because of an oblique injury. Even without Kolek, Marquette is still a better basketball team than Villanova is. Head coach Shaka Smart is probably trying to save Tyler Kolek for Friday’s semifinals for a potential third matchup with the #8 Creighton Blue Jays.
In the last game that the Marquette Golden Eagles played in, they won that matchup against the Xavier Musketeers by a final score of 86-80. Kam Jones once again led the way for Marquette in that matchup with 30 points, five rebounds, and nine assists.
Oso Ighodaro scored 24 points and Stevie Mitchell also added 11 points for the Golden Eagles. Marquette finished the regular season with a 14-6 record in Big East Conference play during the regular season. They also currently have a 23-8 record so far this season.
The Villanova Wildcats are Lucky To Be Facing the #10 Marquette Golden Eagles on Thursday in the Big East Tournament
Villanova was on the ropes in the Big East Tournament on Wednesday against 3-29 DePaul Blue Demons. They were down by two points with less than 15 seconds remaining and Justin Moore hit the game-winning three-pointer and won 58-57. The Blue Demons had a 40-32 lead at one point in the second half.
Villanova survives 3-28 (0-20) DePaul to keep its NCAA Tournament dreams alive @MarkTitusShow
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 14, 2024
Had Villanova lost that game, Marquette would have been playing DePaul and head coach Kyle Neptune may have been out of a job today. The Villanova Wildcats have an 18-14 record so far this season and they had a 10-10 record in conference play during the regular season.
Moore scored 10 points, grabbed six rebounds, and recorded four assists. Villanova had two other players score in double figures against DePaul. Eric Dixon scored the most points for the Wildcats with 21 points and he also grabbed nine rebounds and recorded three assists.
Mark Armstrong also added 11 points and recorded four assists. The Villanova Wildcats and the Marquette Golden Eagles last played each other on January 30 and Marquette won that matchup over Villanova 85-80. Even without Tyler Kolek on Thursday, the Golden Eagles have way more talent than the Wildcats and should win this game going away.
