The quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament takes place today and we will see the Marquette Golden Eagles take on the Notre dame Fighting Irish. The game is scheduled for a 9:30 pm (Eastern) start time and will be televised on ESPN. Currently the Odds for the game have Marquette favored by 3 points while the total sits at 126.
Analysis: Led by Pat Connaughton's best performance of the season, the Irish slipped by Rutgers, 69-61, in Wednesday's first round. The Irish had lost two of the last three games to close out the regular season but still managed to finish among the top six teams in the conference in league play (11-7). Notre Dame has been to the semifinals in each of the last three seasons and is looking to make a fourth, and more successful trip, this time. The Fighting Irish survived against the Scarlet Knights despite getting two points and nine rebounds from All-Big East selection Jack Cooley (13.3 points, 10.5 rebounds), who has been held to seven points or fewer in three of his last four games. That poor stretch started in the Irish’s loss at Marquette when he was held scoreless and grabbed one rebound over 15 minutes because of illness. The Irish are among the national leaders in both assists (17.3 pg) and field-goal percentage (.468), while scoring a healthy 70.7 points per game. Jerian Grant (13.3 ppg, 5.7 apg) and Eric Atkins (11.6 ppg, 6.8 apg) form a backcourt tandem that makes sure the Irish run smoothly on the offensive end.
Marquette used a four-game winning streak to close the regular season in a three-way tie for first after Blue hit a difficult layup in overtime to defeat St. John’s Saturday. The regular-season title was the school’s first since it won Conference USA in 2003 when Dwyane Wade led the Golden Eagles to the Final Four. While Blue (14.4 points) leads the team in scoring, the play of sixth man Davante Gardner (11.5 points, 4.8 rebounds) may be every bit as important for a team that relies so heavily on its non-starters. Led by Gardner, the Golden Eagles’ bench contributes 30.7 points (third-most in nation) and accounts for 44.4 percent of the team’s total offense – the second-highest percentage in the nation. Another reserve, Jamil Wilson (9.2 points), is enjoying the finest stretch of his three-year career. The junior forward tied a career high with 19 points against the Irish and is averaging 13.8 points during the team’s winning streak. As a team the Golden Eagles shoot a solid 46.7 percent from the field which ranks third in the league while netting 69.1 points per game. On defense they allow just 62.6 points per game on 40.6 percent shooting.
Pick: I like the Irish to get it done here. Notre Dame is playing very well, especially defensively and should hold the Marquette offense in check. Cooley got just 2 points in his last games, so you can expect him to explode in this one. Irish pull the small upset here.
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