Big East Madness: Marquette makes 11 with Win

The Big East tournament kicks off on Tuesday with 4 early round match-ups. It’s surprising to see just 1 ranked team playing Tuesday as this conference has a total of 7 currently in the top-25. Ranking doesn’t mean much to the Marquette Golden Eagles, but winning Tuesday means everything.

College basketball experts are predicting that as many as 11 teams from this loaded conference have the opportunity to get into the NCAA tournament. That’s a pretty ridiculous number considering there are entire conferences that don’t have that many teams period. However, the Big East is clearly the deepest and strongest conference in all of college basketball, and are deserving of the double-digit bids they will receive.

If they do indeed get 11 teams in, the last would be Marquette. The Golden Eagles are on the bubble right now, and will probably need to win at least 1 if not 2 games in the conference tournament to solidify their position for the “Big Dance”. Their opening round match-up is not a walk-over as they take on a Providence Friars team that can “light it up” offensively. This will be a classic match-up of offense vs. defense as Marquette relies on shutting teams down to win.

The Friars rely heavily on jump-shooting. This can be a good thing when the shots are falling, but if they aren’t, they can fall into a hole very quickly. Wins against Louisville and Villanova back in late January are an example of what this Providence team is capable of if everything clicks. Marshon Brooks is considered one of the best players in the country, and is being talked about as a player of the year candidate. Brooks is a tremendously gifted athlete that has averaged almost 25 points and over 7 rebounds per game primarily from the guard position. The Friars are loaded with guards as all 2 of their top scorers play the position. Vincent Council and Gerald Coleman make up the rest of this trio of assassins, and will be out to take out Marquette with a flurry of 3’s Tuesday night.

Marquette has squandered 2 opportunities to increase their chances of getting in to the tournament with losses to Cincinnati at home and Seton Hall on the road. They did beat Providence at their own game on February 27th when they won by 24 points in an 86-62 blowout. Things could be much closer this time as the Golden Eagles are feeling tons of pressure, and the Friars will have a “nothing to lose” mentality.

The expert basketball handicappers must feel that game will be closer than their last meeting as well as they have made Marquette a 7.5 point favorite as opposed to the 10.5 points they gave up last time around. Tune in Tuesday to see if Marquette can get a much needed win that will give themselves the chance to be the 11th team from the Big East to join the Madness!

Related posts:

1. Marquette gets tested by Washington offense
2. Big East Top-25′s Collide
3. Louisville goes to Connecticut in Big East Top-25 Battle
4. Fighting Irish Face Villanova in Big East Showdown
5. Big East Battle of Top 10′s Fight for Conference Title

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