Perfect Bracket Watch: Marquette Golden Eagles
The sixth team in this year’s Perfect Bracket Watch is the Marquette Golden Eagles, a cautious but currently comfortable bubble team. Steve Wojciechowski is hoping that three times will be a charm for his group on Selection Sunday this year.
Vitals
W-L record (Conference): 17–10 (8–7)
Head coach: Steve Wojciechowski (3rd season with Marquette)
Bracket Matrix seed (Overall rank): 11 (43)
Rankings (KenPom/Sagarin/Massey/KPI/LRMC): 31/32/41/49/31
Players you should know
G: Markus Howard (5–11, 175), 12.5 PPG, 2.0 APG, 54.1 3P%
C: Luke Fischer (6–11, 250), 11.5 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.7 BPG, 64.2 FG%
G/F: JaJuan Johnson (6–5, 205), 11.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.9 SPG
Teams the Golden Eagles want to see
Wisconsin — An intra-state battle with Wisconsin sure would be an enticing matchup. However, these two would not meet in the first round because they already played in December. MU’s biggest knock is its perimeter defense, but the Badgers will be one of the worst jump-shooting teams in this year’s tournament.
UCLA — I’m not necessarily saying Marquette would beat UCLA, but this would be a game that ends with both teams with 90+ points. Anything can happen. First to get a defensive stop wins.
Wake Forest— A potential First Four matchup? Both teams are excellent from beyond the arc but are (coincidentally) awful at preventing three-pointers. Luke Fischer down low against John Collins (62.1 eFG%) would be a must-watch battle.
Teams the Golden Eagles don’t want to see
South Carolina — I don’t like this matchup at all if I’m Marquette. The Gamecocks have an offense that can destruct any systematic offense, and “winning ugly” is not the style that Marquette wants to play.
Virginia — Essentially any tough defense will give Marquette fits, as there are few teams in the nation that rely on eFG% as much as the Eagles. Tony Bennett’s squad can defend as well as any team in the country.
Minnesota— The Golden Gophers allow opponents to shoot just 30% from three and 44.6% inside the arc. Minnesota is also 5th in the nation in team block percentage. Potential first-round nightmare matchup for Marquette.
Thirty seconds or less
As long as Marquette reaches 19 or 20 wins they should be safely in the field of 68, though a bad first round loss in the Big East Tournament could damage its resume. Offensively, this is one of the smoothest teams you will find in the country, with six players averaging in double figures — not something you find very often in any level of basketball. If the Golden Eagles receive a favorable draw for the round of 64, I would not be surprised one bit if Marquette scratches out at least one ‘W’ in March.
