On Friday in Cleveland, a pair of highly regarded coaches with spotty NCAA Tournament resumes will face off with a chance to start re-writing their own histories. New Mexico's Richard Pitino has won just one game (2019 with Minnesota), while Marquette's Shaka Smart is 5-10 in the big dance since his legendary Final Four run in 2011 with VCU.
Marquette was considered a top ten team in the nation earlier in the season, thanks to non-conference victories over Maryland, Purdue and Wisconsin. But the Golden Eagles have floundered since mid-January, when a home loss to Xavier (which more or less got the Musketeers in the field) kicked off an 8-8 stretch.
New Mexico has had the opposite experience, as a bad December home loss to New Mexico State pushed the Lobos away from the public focus. That was met by a 15-1 run in which New Mexico seized the Mountain West regular season title and picked up six wins over teams that wound up in the NCAA Tournament.
How to watch #7 Marquette vs. #10 New Mexico
- Date: Friday, March 21
- Time: 7:25 pm EST
- Venue: Rocket Arena, Cleveland
- How to Watch (TV): TBS
- Streaming: March Madness Live
- Marquette record: 23-10
- New Mexico record: 26-7
Marquette vs New Mexico odds, spread and total
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Moneyline
- Marquette -182
- New Mexico +150
Spread
- Marquette -3.5 (-118)
- New Mexico +3.5 (-104)
Total
- 152.5 (O -115/U -105)
Marquette injury report
- N/A
New Mexico injury report
- N/A
Marquette and New Mexico series history
- New Mexico vs Marquette: 1-0
#7 Marquette vs #10 New Mexico prediction
Marquette thrives on winning the turnover battle (the Golden Eagles have done so in twenty-eight of thirty-three games), and are 1-4 when they fail to do so. However, it will be difficult to disrupt New Mexico star guard Donovan Dent, while his backcourt mates Dru Washington and CJ Noland were both top eleven in the Mountain West in offensive turnover rate and steal rate. This makes the Lobos particularly adept at dealing with Marquette's best punch.
New Mexico is at it's best when Dent and center Nelly Junior Joseph can find opportunities at the rim and frequently get themselves to the free throw line. Marquette has a pair of fantastic options to throw at Dent in veteran wings Chase Ross and Stevie Mitchell, but the Golden Eagles interior defense has been subpar and they surrender a high rate of assisted baskets.
On paper, the team stats seem to favor New Mexico, but Marquette has a star of their own in All-American Kam Jones, perhaps the best do-it-all guard in the nation. I'd give the slight edge to New Mexico, but the game may simply come down to who can be the best in the battle between Dent and Jones.
Prediction: No. 10 New Mexico 68, No. 7 Marquette 63