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Jeremy Perry
Michigan St. vs. Marquette Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The No. 7 Michigan State Spartans pulled away with a 10-point victory against the No. 10 USC Trojans in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. They were locked in a close game throughout but pulled away in the second half to advance further. Now they get a Marquette Golden Eagles team that just crushed Vermont in the Round of 64. By some metrics, Marquette looks like the much stronger team but they’re only favoured to win by 2.5 points on the college basketball odds.
Michigan State vs. Marquette NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The Spartans are currently 1-4 ATS in their last five games when they are coming off an ATS victory. They are 1-5 ATS in their last six games played on a Sunday as well. As for their total, the over has cashed in six of their last seven games played on a Sunday and has hit in five of their last seven overall.
Flipping over to the Golden Eagles, they have covered four straight against a team with a winning percentage over .600 on the season. They are also 4-1-1 ATS in their last six games played when engaging in a neutral site affair. Their total has seen the under hit in their last four games overall and their last five against teams with a winning percentage over .600.
Michigan St. Spartans (7)
The Spartans were locked in a tough back-and-forth matchup until their head coach Tom Izzo decided to do something to wake everybody up. Izzo created a spark by snapping a whiteboard in half during one of the team’s timeouts and shortly after, they broke away from the competition. Michigan State saw an incredible performance from Joey Hauser, who dropped 17 points on the afternoon.
The only major concern for the Spartans came toward the end of regulation. They missed six straight free throws which allowed USC to hold onto a comeback for a few minutes longer than should have. Free throws were a problem for them the whole game as they missed 10 from the charity stripe. If they can’t clean up their free throws, they’re not going to make a deep run in the tournament.
Marquette Golden Eagles (2)
The Marquette crowd really played a significant part in their breakaway victory over Vermont. With the game in nearby Ohio, fans from Michigan were able to travel to support.
Guard Kam Jones had just one point when they went into halftime and suddenly erupted from that point forward. Jones scored 18 points in the second half to pull his team away from the competition. Their head coach Shaka Smart had this to say after the game, “We just tried to encourage him, all the coaches and players tried to encourage him. That’s what allowed us to break the game open.”
At one point, Jones scored every single point for Marquette in a five-minute span. They went from leading by five points to leading by 17 early in the second half, which gave them the breathing room they needed.
Something important to note though is that one of their best players Tyler Kolek suffered a thumb injury that he plans to play through. He was the Big East Tournament MVP and clearly is a big part of the team. We’ll have to see just how much of an impact that has on him and the team.
