The 2 Marquette Golden Eagles will face the 15 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Friday in the NCAA Tournament with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on TBS. Marquette is looking to advance to the Round of 32 for the second consecutive season and looking to avoid a monster upset. Entering this matchup, the Golden Eagles have a 25-9 record and the Hilltoppers have a 22-11 record.
The Golden Eagles have not played since last Saturday against the UCONN Huskies in the Big East Championship Game. Marquette lost that game 73-57 and Tyler Kolek was out due to an oblique injury. He is expected to play on Friday for the Marquette Golden Eagles and has missed the last six games prior to it.
Head coach Shaka Smart knows that this team has a chance to get to the Final Four this season. The Marquette Golden Eagles only had two players score in double figures against the UCONN Huskies last Saturday. Kam Jones led the way for Marquette in that one with 13 points. He will need to play well against Western Kentucky.
He also grabbed eight rebounds and recorded four assists in that matchup as well. David Joplin scored 12 points, grabbed six rebounds, and recorded one assist. The one player who struggled to score in the Big East Tournament and will need to play well on Friday afternoon is Oso Ighodaro.
Players To Watch For On the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Against the Marquette Golden Eagles
The last time the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers played, it was against the UTEP Miners in the Conference USA Championship game last Saturday with the Hilltoppers winning by a final score of 78-71. Three players scored in double figures for the Hilltoppers.
Don McHenry scored 25 points, grabbed five rebounds, and recorded one assist. Brandon Newman scored 15 points and Khristian Lander also added 11 points and six rebounds for Western Kentucky. Their head coach is Steve Lutz.
This is a game that the Golden Eagles need to get out to a big lead early in order for the Hilltoppers to not have much of a chance. Western Kentucky is looking to bust some more brackets in this matchup. Marquette has Final Four and National Championship aspirations. The Marquette Golden Eagles should be able to clear out the bench in the final minute or so against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. The winner of this game will face the 10 Colorado Buffaloes and the 7 Florida Gators in the Round of 32.
