2022 NCAA Tournament First Round: No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels vs. No. 9 Marquette Golden Eagles
How to Watch:
- Date: Thursday, March 17
- Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX
- TV: TBS
- Live Stream: NCAA.com
Tale of the Tape:
| No. 8 UNC | STAT | No. 9 MAR |
| ACC | Conference | Big East |
| 24-9 | Record | 19-12 |
| 77.5 (40th) | Points Per Game | 74.4 (98th) |
| 71.7 | Points Allowed Per Game | 70.9 |
| 0.593 (35th) | RPI | 0.5755 (51st) |
| 54th | Strength of Schedule | 25th |
| At-Large | Bid | At-Large |
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UNC leaders:
- Armando Bacot, F, JR: 16.4 PPG, 12.4 RPG, 1.8 BPG, 58.9% FG
- Caleb Love, G, SO: 15.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.1 SPG
Marquette leaders:
- Justin Lewis, F, FR: 17.1 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 45.1% FG
- Darryl Morsell, G, SR: 13.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.2 SPG
UNC vs. MAR Odds, Lines, and Past Performance:
- UNC Moneyline: -155
- MAR Moneyline: +135
- Spread: UNC -3
- Over/Under: 152.5
- ATS Record: UNC 16-16-1, MAR 16-15
- Over/Under Record: UNC 19-13-1, MAR 15-15-1
Odds courtesy of Draftkings. For the latest odds, click here.
The Pick:
- This is likely to be a close matchup between two mercurial teams that have flashed potential at various points in the season, including Marquette sweeping Villanova and North Carolina beating Duke in Cameron Indoor Arena for Coach K’s last home game.
- Shaka Smart is a veteran coach who has been in this position before, so he will have his Golden Eagles ready to play, especially on the defensive end where they hold a slight advantage of the Tar Heels, ranking 46th in adjusted efficiency to their opponent’s 64th
- The Tar Heels are the slightly better shooting team, ranking 54th in the nation in three-point percentage at 36.2% and taking 22.8 threes a game. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles rank 122nd at 34.7% a game despite taking more threes at 24.8 per game.
- If this comes down to free throws, that could be an advantage to the Tar Heels, who are 17th in the country, shooting 77.2% from the charity stripe; although, Marquette isn’t too far behind, finishing 78th at a 74.7% clip.
- It’s easy to see this as a close game that is potentially lower-scoring than predicted based on the matchup skills of Shaka Smart.
