Michigan State vs Marquette March Madness Betting Preview: Big East Champs Favored to Reach Sweet 16
It Has Been a While Since Marquette and Michigan State Reached Sweet 16
Spartans and Golden Eagles Finish Strong in NCAA Tournament Openers
Two programs that haven’t been past the second round in the NCAA tournament in a while are set to square off on Sunday with a spot in the regionals at stake. The Michigan State vs Marquette March Madness betting preview lists the Big East champion as the favorite.
Don’t let the scores in the first round disguise the fact that both the seventh-seeded Spartans and second-seeded Golden Eagles were pushed in the tournament openers.
It will be an interesting game for Michigan State’s second-leading scorer. Joey Hauser, the only Wisconsin native on the Spartans’ roster, played at Marquette as a freshman. None of the current Marquette player were on the team when Hauser played there.
When looking at the college basketball injury report, Michigan State is in pretty good shape from an injury standpoint.
For the Golden Eagles, forward Zach Wrightsil, who hasn’t played since mid-November, is out for the season with a knee injury. Guard Emarion Ellis has yet to play this season for Marquette.
Marquette moved up two spots to No. 4 in the coaches’ poll and is sixth in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
According to the odds to win March Madness, Marquette (+1200) is tied for ninth in the odds to win the national title. Michigan State (+5000) is 17th.
Michigan State: If at First You Don’t Succeed
It took a late basket by A.J. Hoggard to avoid heading into the locker room trailing at halftime in Friday’s NCAA tournament opener against Southern California. Now Michigan State vs Marquette March Madness betting preview has Michigan State as the underdog in the second round.
The Trojans shot 50% from the field in the first half. It was a much different story after halftime with USC missing seven of the first eight shots in the second half to give the Spartans some breathing room.
Freshman Carson Cooper and senior Tyson Walker had four points each as Michigan State used a 15-6 run to take control of the game.
USC got as close as four points on a couple of occasions but never could make it a one-possession game again. Points in the paint were 32-20 in favor of the Spartans and Michigan State shooting 52.5% inside the 3-point line.
Michigan State is 5-8 against the college basketball betting lines in its last 13 games.
Jones Delivers for Golden Eagles
Marquette was in danger of becoming the latest title contender to be on the wrong end of a March Madness upset.
No. 15 seed Vermont was only down by five points after back-to-back baskets by Robin Duncan and Finn Sullivan.
At that point, Kam Jones took over. Jones would score Marquette’s next 18 points and he had all the points for the Golden Eagles during a 13-4 run to push the lead to 14 points.
Marquette would lead by as much as 24 points and won 78-61 to advance to the second round. The Golden Eagles are favored once again according to the Michigan State vs Marquette March Madness betting preview.
Jones finished with 19 points. Sophomores Oso Ighodaro and David Joplin combined for 26 points, eight assists and no turnovers.
Five of the last six games played by Marquette went under the NCAA basketball odds total.
Handicapping the Game
It is hard to believe it has been more than 15 years since Michigan State and Marquette have met in a March Madness game. Now Marquette is favored by three points despite a less than stellar track record in the series with Michigan State.
The last matchup in the NCAA tournament was a 61-49 win by the Spartans, who were favored by two points, in the first round in 2007 with that game going well under the 126-point total.
Marquette, which has won 10 games in a row, posted its first NCAA tournament win since reaching the Elite Eight in 2013. Michigan State is looking for its first trip to the regionals since reaching the Final Four in 2015.
Michigan State is going to try to control the tempo because when it comes to trading baskets, that might be hard for the Spartans to outscore the Golden Eagles.
Marquette is 22-12-1 against the spread, the second-best mark in the Big East.
The Golden Eagles are 24-1 when listed by the sportsbook as the favorite and covered in 13 of the last 18 games as the favorite. Michigan State is 3-9 as the underdog. (Odds change frequently, be sure to check for the most up to date changes.)
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