2011 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 – East Region
#2 North Carolina Tar Heels vs. #11 Marquette Golden Eagles, Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Friday, March 25, 2011, 7:15 pm Eastern, TV: CBS
Opening Line: North Carolina -5
Current Line: North Carolina -4.5
Opening Total: 147
Current Total: 151
Money Line: North Carolina -200 / Marquette +170
The 11th-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles (22-14) crashed what would have been quite the party at the Prudential Center in Newark had the top four seeds in the East Region all advanced to the Sweet 16. Instead, the Golden Eagles are representing the beleaguered Big East Conference against the second-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels (28-7) on Friday over #3 Syracuse after beating the Orange 66-62 last Sunday.
There is no doubt that the Big East has underachieved in this year’s NCAA tournament after sending nine of a record 11 teams home packing before the Sweet 16, but the fact that a Marquette team which finished 11th in the conference is still standing proves every team belonged. The Golden Eagles can take that argument even further by giving the favored Tar Heels (-4.5) another tough battle following their 86-83 victory against #7 Washington in the third round.
North Carolina held off the Huskies thanks to a balanced scoring effort, led by 7-foot center Tyler Zeller’s game-high 23 points. Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year Harrison Barnes also scored 22 points while Dexter Strickland and Kendall Marshall each added 13. Marshall continued to dazzle with his passing skills as well, dishing out a game-high 14 assists.
Defense clearly has not been a priority for North Carolina in its first two games and was not in the last two games of the ACC tournament either. The team is surrendering an average of 83 points in the last four games with the total going OVER three times. The Tar Heels have also gone 0-4-1 against the spread in their last five games, starting with their opener in the ACC tourney.
That style of play could change dramatically if Marquette can control the tempo, as the team has given up more than 67 points only twice in the past 10 games. The UNDER is 9-1 during that stretch, with the Golden Eagles scoring more than 74 points just twice over that span.
Marquette found a way to limit a high-scoring Syracuse team to 31 points in each half of its third-round victory but will need to deal with a much larger North Carolina squad. The Orange could not find a way to maximize 6-9 center Rick Jackson after he had a monster game in the second round against Indiana State. Zeller, 6-10 John Henson and the 6-8 Barnes will be one of the biggest frontcourts the Golden Eagles have faced all season. Still, they are 4-1 ATS in their past five games, all played on neutral courts in the postseason.
Now that you have read this NCAA tournament college basketball betting preview featuring North Carolina & Marquette, check out the NCAA basketball odds on this and all the games to compare the best lines at multiple sportsbooks.
