North Carolina vs Marquette: 2022 NCAA Tournament East Region Odds, How to Watch, More

NCAA Basketball: ACC Conference Tournament-North Carolina vs Virginia
Mar 10, 2022; Brooklyn, NY, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Caleb Love (2) drives to the basket against Virginia Cavaliers guard Kihei Clark (0) and. guard Armaan Franklin (4) during the first half at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

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:

Mar 5, 2022; Durham, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Caleb Love (2) drives to the basket as Duke Blue Devils forward Wendell Moore Jr. (0) defends during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
  • 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:

Mar 10, 2022; New York, NY, USA; Golden Eagles forward Justin Lewis (10) reacts after dunking in the second half against the Creighton Bluejays at the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
  • 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.

For more 2022 NCAA Tournament coverage, visit TailgateSports.com