Marquette Golden Eagles 24-9 6 – West 34 48
Starting Five: G – Maurice Acker (2.9 ppg, 1.4 apg), G- Jerel McNeal (19.7 ppg, 40.2 3PT%), F – Wesley Matthews (18.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg), F – Lazar Hayward (16.1 ppg, 8.6 rpg), F – Dwight Burke (2.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg)
Key Wins: Wisconsin (3), Villanova 97), West Virginia (22)
Key Losses: Dayton (14), at Tennessee (12), at South Florida (1), at Villanova (18), at Pittsburgh (15)
Why they tank: Losing floor leader and premiere defender Dominic James to a fractured foot has crippled Marquette. Novice bracketeers will gravitate toward the Golden Eagles based on name, conference and record, but they are a very vulnerable team which could get tossed early by Cinderella. Stumbling down the stretch, Marquette enters tournament action dropping five of its last six. The 1.19 points per possession surrendered in those loses is appalling. More disturbing, even with James healthy for much of the season, Golden Eagles foes converted 35.0 percent from three (217th) and 50.1 percent closer to the bucket (252nd). Yes, senior guard Jerel McNeal is a very special scorer who regularly fills the stat sheet – he's totaled twenty 20-point games this year – but Marquette's inability to manufacture key stops will lead to its undoing. Don't be tempted. A potential second-round matchup against the athleticism and full-court press of Missouri is ominous.
Prediction: Second-round loss to Missouri
And he is...???
an idiot
ummm...a yahoo.
Someone who looked at our record over the last 5 games and forgot to consider opponent/location.
Lazy.
Well he is picking us to make the second round before losing to a better seeded team. I don't see the travesty in his prediction. With a healthy DJ we had the ability to go far, without him a Sweet 16 trip would be a huge success.