The Marquette Golden Eagles will be the seventh seed in the South Region. They will be facing the #10 seed New Mexico Lobos.
They will be facing each other on Friday and the tip-off for this contest will be at 6:25 p.m. CT in Cleveland, Ohio. The winner of this game will either face the #15 Bryant Bulldogs or the #2 Michigan State Spartans. The Golden Eagles are looking to advance to the next round for the third consecutive season.
One Concern For the Marquette Golden Eagles Ahead of the New Mexico Lobos Matchup
At one point this season, the Golden Eagles looked like they were one of the best teams in the country until they got to Big East Conference play. Marquette finished fifth in the conference during the season. The Golden Eagles got to the semifinals in the Big East Conference before losing to the St. John’s Red Storm.
The Lobos won the Mountain West Conference this season. It remains to be seen what kind of showing they will have in the NCAA Tournament. Sportingnews.com writer David Suggs has one concern for Marquette entering the Lobos matchup. Suggs said,
“Marquette played like a top-10 team in the non-conference portion of its schedule, but Big East play was not as kind to the Golden Eagles. Kam Jones was one major reason why, as he went from a national player of the year contender to a much more limited player later in the season.
Getting Jones back to form is crucial for coach Shaka Smart. Marquette doesn’t have the offensive firepower to survive long if Jones can’t score at a high level, and the depth on this team isn’t great either. The Golden Eagles are outside the top 90 in points per game and shoot just 32.5 from 3-point range, which might limit their ceiling in the tournament.”
During the regular season for Shaka Smart’s squad, Kam Jones averaged 19.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 5.9 APG, shooting 48.4% from the field. Three other players on the roster averaged double figures in the regular season: David Joplin averaged 13.8 PPG, Stevie Mitchell averaged 10.9 PPG, and Chase Ross averaged 10.7 PPG.
If Jones goes cold against New Mexico and Richard Pitino’s squad, they need others to step up. If not, there is a chance that they could go one and done-again this season.
