Some severe struggles have dropped the Marquette Golden Eagles from a comfortable spot in March Madness to on the bubble. They need to play better down the stretch and would be well-served to pick up a key road win next time out against the Seton Hall Pirates.
Marquette has the inferior record and must play on the road, but did come up with an easy win last time out against Seton Hall. Despite the Golden Eagles’ success in the first matchup, the Pirates should be pretty substantial favorites at home.
Seton Hall is battling for positioning in the NCAA Tournament, but Marquette is playing for its postseason life, so the intensity should be extremely high in this Big East showdown.
At 7 p.m. ET, tune into FS1 for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Wednesday, February 7, 2018, at the Prudential Center.
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Odds Analysis
Marquette is 13-10 straight up and 10-12 against the spread. The Golden Eagles have played in five road games this season and have covered in three of them. Marquette is 3-5 against the spread as the underdog on the year.
Seton Hall is 17-6 straight up and 11-12 against the spread. The Pirates have covered in six of 13 attempts at home this season. The Pirates are 9-9 against the spread as the favorite on the season.
Player To Watch
Desi Rodriguez — Seton Hall’s senior forward had 20 points, seven points and four rebounds in his team’s loss to No. 1 Villanova. A solid effort despite a fairly lopsided performance overall.
Rodriguez is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 17.4 points this season and shooting 50.7 percent from the field. He had an off-night the first time Seton Hall faced Marquette this season, finishing 5-of-15 from the field with just 11 points in the Pirates’ 84-64 loss.
A stronger performances from their top guy on offense could definitely result in a much closer game this time around. Rodriguez enters this matchup having scored 20 points or more in seven games this season so he is certainly capable of a game-changing type of performance.
Key Stat
Four. That’s how many games in a row that Marquette has lost coming into this matchup. The Golden Eagles will be eager to get back in the winning column against the Pirates this week, especially considering this is a team they’ve already beaten this season.
Marquette had not lost more than one game in a row before falling to No. 8 Xavier on January 24th. That tough matchup was followed by a tight game against top-ranked Villanova where the Golden Eagles played well, but fell 85-82 on January 28th.
The last two losses, however, hurt a bit more as Marquette was blown out by Butler a week ago and lost 77-75 to Providence on Saturday. A win here will be a welcomed reset after a tough stretch, but Seton Hall will also be hungry, looking to avenge its loss to Marquette last month.
Free NCAA Men’s Basketball ATS Picks
Marquette has shown its ability to hang with some of the best teams in the country, and would be dangerous as a high seed in March Madness. But the overall record is not very good and the team could miss the tournament without a turnaround.
Even though Seton Hall is the favorite, look for the Golden Eagles to play with desperation and come away with a crucial road win. Marquette is a good choice on the moneyline as it could pay off nicely. The Eagles are an easy choice against the spread for those who think Seton Hall will eke out a close one.
This should be an entertaining, high-scoring affair to consider the “over” on the total.
NCAA Men’s Basketball Odds: Marquette 82, Seton Hall 80
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