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College Basketball

Marquette Eagles vs. North Carolina Tar Heels Picks, Predictions, Odds

Daniel Dobish
Daniel Dobish Sports Betting Expert
6 minute read

The Marquette Golden Eagles (19-12) of the Big East Conference will meet the North Carolina Tar Heels (24-9) of the Atlantic Coast Conference in first-round action in the NCAA Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 4:30 p.m. ET at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, and the game can be viewed on TBS.

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Score Prediction

North Carolina 76, Marquette 72

Best Bet

North Carolina -159 ML
Under 153 (-110)

NCAA Tournament Expert Picks | NIT Tournament Picks

MARCH MADNESS BETTING RESOURCES

MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES vs. UNC TAR HEELS PREDICTIONS

Marquette was bounced in its opening game of the Big East Tournament, falling 74-63 to Creighton as a 3-point favorite as the UNDER connected. The Golden Eagles are now just 4-6 SU across the past 10 games after an impressive run which saw them tick off wins against Providence, Seton Hall (x2), Villanova (x2) and Xavier, while covering nine straight games from Jan. 4-Feb. 2. In fact, that particular 8-1 SU/9-0 ATS run might be the single reason that the Golden Eagles are in the NCAA Tournament, because the remainder of their body of work is rather mediocre, or even subpar.

North Carolina turned up the intensity toward the end of the regular season, winning five straight games to close the regular campaign, including a dominant 94-81 win at Duke to spoil Coach K's final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham. The Tar Heels thumped Virginia 63-43 in the opening game of the ACC Tournament, but then were upended by upstart Virginia Tech in the ACC semis, falling 72-59. Still, the Tar Heels are an impressive 4-1 ATS in the past five games, and 8-4-1 ATS across the past 13 games overall.

MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES vs. UNC TAR HEELS BETTING ODDS

More Odds | Futures Odds

MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES vs. UNC TAR HEELS BETTING RESOURCES

  • Date: Thursday, March 17, 2022
  • Matchup: No. 9 vs. No. 8
  • Region: East
  • Venue: Dickies Arena
  • Location: Fort Worth, Texas
  • TV-Time: TBS - 4:30 p.m. ET

MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES BETTING ANALYSIS

Straight Up - SU, Against the Spread - ATS, Over-Under (O/U)

  • SU: 19-12
  • ATS: 16-14-1
  • O/U: 15-15-1

After that ridiculous nine-game cover run, the Golden Eagles have gone in the complete opposition direction since Feb. 8. Marquette has just one lone cover in the past eight games overall, an 85-77 win as 4-point favorites against St. John's, a non-Tournament team, in the regular-season finale.

Marquette is maddeningly inconsistent, as this is also a team which swept regular-season champ Providence, as well as runner-up Villanova. Of course, this team also went 0-3 against Creighton this season, and they were swept by 5-seed UConn, while also suffering bad losses to Butler and DePaul down the stretch, and a 16-point setback to St. Bonaventure earlier in the season.

The Golden Eagles are 1-5-1 ATS in the past seven NCAA Tournament games, while going 7-15 ATS in the past 22 neutral-site appearances. The Golden Eagles are a solid 10-3 ATS in the past 13 against winning teams, and 7-1 ATS in the past eight as an underdog. Marquette has cashed the UNDER in five of the past seven games as an underdog, while going 9-4 in the past 13 neutral-site battles.

UNC TAR HEELS BETTING ANALYSIS

Straight Up - SU, Against the Spread - ATS, Over-Under (O/U)

  • SU: 24-9
  • ATS: 16-16-1
  • O/U: 19-14

North Carolina was dropped by 13 points in the ACC semis to Va. Tech, but the Tar Heels have not had consecutive non-covers since Jan. 18-22 in consecutive loss at Miami-Florida and Wake Forest. That's the only time UNC failed to cover in two in a row outside of an 0-6 ATS skid to open the season from Nov. 9-23 in the non-conference portion of the schedule.

The Tar Heels are actually 4-0-1 ATS in the past five games following a non-cover, while going 5-1-1 ATS in the past seven against teams with a winning overall record. They're also 5-2-1 ATS in the past eight as a favorite on a neutral floor.

As far as the NCAA Tournament is concerned, UNC has posted just a 1-5 ATS mark in its past six games in the Big Dance, while going 1-5-1 ATS in the previous seven neutral-site games. THE UNDER is 5-2 in the past seven NCAA Tournament games, too, while going 10-3 in the past 13 neutral-site games as a favorite.

North Carolina has covered four of its past five games overall. (AP)

INSIDE THE STATS - MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES

  • Record: 19-12
  • PS/G: 74.4 (89th)
  • PA/G: 70.9 (227th)

INSIDE THE STATS - UNC TAR HEELS

  • Record: 24-9
  • PS/G: 77.5 (35th)
  • PA/G: 71.7 (253rd)

KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH

  • MARQ: Justin Lewis - F (17.1 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.1 SPG, 35.2 3P%)
  • MARQ: Darryl Morsell - G (13.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.2 SPG, 35.5 3P%)
  • UNC: Armando Bacot - F (16.5 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 1.7 BPG, 1.4 APG, 59.8 FG%)
  • UNC: Caleb Love - G (15.4 PPG, 3.8 APG, 3.4 RPG, 37.0 3P%, 87.4 FT%)

MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES vs. UNC TAR HEELS BETTING CONCLUSION

These 8-9 games are always a toss-up, and these are two proud programs which will have one team going home in the first round. I think UNC has been playing much better basketball lately, and has the potential to give Baylor all it can handle in the second round should it get by the Golden Eagles in this one.

The last time we saw the Tar Heels in the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind., it was blasted as an eight-seed by Wisconsin, 85-62. That was the final game for Roy Williams. Now, they make the field for the first time under Hubert Davis, looking for revenge. Marquette enters ice-cold lately, while UNC has had some quality wins. Back the Heels to have learned a big lesson last season in the COVID tourney, and having learned plenty down the stretch this season, too.

MARCH MADNESS PICK RESOURCES

MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES vs. UNC TAR HEELS BETTING TRENDS

  • Marquette is 1-7 ATS in the past eight games overall.
  • Marquette is 10-3 ATS in the past 13 vs. winning teams.
  • Marquette is 7-1 ATS in the past eight as an underdog.
  • Marquette is 7-15 ATS in the past 22 neutral-site games.
  • UNC is 4-1 ATS in the past five games overall.
  • UNC is 5-1-1 ATS in the past seven vs. winning teams.
  • UNC is 1-5 ATS in the past six NCAA Tournament games.
  • UNC is 1-5-1 ATS in the past seven neutral-site games.
  • The UNDER is 5-2 in the past seven as an underdog for Marquette.
  • The UNDER is 9-4 in the past 13 neutral-site games for Marquette.
  • The OVER is 14-6-1 in the past 21 games overall for UNC.
  • The OVER is 7-3 in the past 10 as a favorite for UNC.
  • The UNDER is 5-2 in UNC's past seven NCAA Tournament games.

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Daniel Dobish

Daniel Dobish

Dan is a handicapper and sports betting expert for VegasInsider with years of experience writing for a number of top publications in the industry. More from Daniel Dobish
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