Marquette Golden Eagles vs N.C. State Wolfpack Prediction, Picks, Odds for 3/29/24

It’s the second day of Sweet 16 action on Friday at the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, and the action starts with Marquette facing N.C. State in Dallas, TX. This first game of the night of four to be played is an unlikely matchup between Marquette and North Carolina State. Is the magical run for the Wolfpack coming to an end, or can the underdogs pull off another surprise? Let’s see what our hoops expert Ej Garr has to say about this Sweet 16 affair. Check out his Golden Eagles vs Wolfpack prediction for tonight!

The Wolfpack has caught on fire at the perfect time of the year. And their run started with another ACC Tournament title that left everyone in shock. The Wolfpack is riding a 7-game win streak into the Sweet 16. The line setters seem to think their run is coming to an end listing the Golden Eagles as -6.5 favs.

The Big East Conference is well-represented in the post-season this year. UConn, Marquette, and Creighton are all in the Sweet 16. Seton Hall advanced to the NIT Final Four last night as well, so four programs from the conference are still playing basketball.

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 GOLDEN EAGLES VS WOLFPACK Prediction, Picks, and Betting Preview

• Selection: N.C. State Wolfpack +6.5 Handicap
• Best Odds: 1.91
• Bookmaker: Bet365
• Stakes: 4/10

Odds available on March 29th 2024. Odds may now differ.

The North Carolina State Wolfpack has certainly relished the Cinderella role in this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Anyone who follows college hoops has got to be impressed with this recent run of wins for the Wolfpack.

The Wolfpack was carrying an average 17 – 14 record going into the ACC Tournament. And they disastrously ended the regular season losing their final four games. With a 2 – 7 record in their final nine games of the regular season, something suddenly snapped for the Wolfpack. Unless you are in that locker room, there is no way to explain why the Wolfpack are in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

The Wolfpack have a chance to become the first team to ever make it to the NIT Championship Game, and then follow it up with NCAA Final Four appearance. There is no shame in playing the NIT even though over a dozen teams passed on the chance to keep playing basketball.

Marquette ended the regular season with an impressive 10 – 3 record, including two losses to UConn. UConn smashed the Golden Eagles in the Big East title game as well. But Marquette didn’t let that see their confidence shatter enough to reach the Sweet 16.

Give me those +6.5 points, because I don’t think this run is over quite yet for the Wolfpack. I expect this to be a tightly contested matchup, and I will ride the confident Pack until they collapse if they do at all.

Golden Eagles vs Wolfpack Game Info

• Time: 23:07 UK Time
• Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
• Handicap & Total: Marquette -6.5, O/U 151.5
• Where to Watch: CBS

Marquette Golden Eagles News, Injury Report, Schedule:

The return of Tyler Kolek from injury makes Marquette even more dangerous, Kolek missed 3 weeks of action with an oblique injury, and he returned just in time for the NCAA Tournament.

Kolek is the second-leading scorer for the Golden Eagles, and his 19.5 average in the post-season is a five-point improvement from his regular season numbers.

With Kolek back in the lineup, we can expect him to take care of the ball and find his teammates in big situations. Kolek is averaging 11 assists in the two NCAA Tournament games, and he has put up double-digit assist numbers in 10 games this campaign.

The Golden Eagles are hoping to make it back to the Elite-8 for the first time since the 2013 campaign. Marquette carries a 41 – 35 record in NCAA Tournament games, and let’s not forget what happened in 1974! N.C. State took down Marquette in the Championship game of that season, and the Golden Eagles are one of few teams that have multiple tournament wins. 

Marquette has won the NCAA Tournament, the NIT, and the National Catholic Invitational Tournament in their history.

N.C. State Wolfpack News, Injury Report, Schedule

The Wolfpack have two National Title banners hanging in their rafters. They won the 1974 title as mentioned above, and the Wolfpack won it all again in 1983.under Jim Valvano. Of course, the Jimmy V Foundation is something we all recognize here in the States, and he coached that 1983 team to the title.

The Wolfpack had four players average double-digits in the regular season, but five players are doing big damage in the post-season. D.J. Burns Jr. and . DJ Horne are both averaging over 16 PPG in the post-season, and the emergence of Mohamed Diarra has also made a big difference. Diarra has made a five-point jump to his average from the regular season, and he is one of five Wolfpack players scoring double-digits as a result.     

Golden Eagles vs Wolfpack H2H

As I mentioned above, the Wolfpack took down Marquette in the 1974 NCAA title game, and that was the only meeting for these two programs in the post-season.

Overall, these two programs have met a total of five times, and the Wolfpack holds a 3 – 2 edge in the series. The last time they met was in December of 2009, a meeting the Wolfpack won, 77 – 73 in Milwaukee.

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