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2018 NIT First Round GameThread: #2 Marquette Golden Eagles vs #7 Harvard Crimson

40 minutes, survive and advance, lose and the season’s over.

By Brewtown Andy
NCAA Basketball: Harvard vs St. Mary's
If Marquette wants to win, they’re going to have to deal with Chris Lewis.
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

THE VITALS: Marquette Golden Eagles (19-13) vs Harvard Crimson (18-13)

THE DATE: Wednesday, March 14, 2018

THE TIME: 6pm Central

THE LOCATION: Al McGuire Center, Milwaukee, WI

THE TELEVISION: ESPN2, with Mitch Holthus & Mark Adams on the call

THE STREAMING: WatchESPN

THE RADIO: 540 ESPN Milwaukee, with Steve “The Homer” True & Jim McIlvaine on the call

THE LIVE STATS: GameTracker

THE LINE: Marquette -11.5

THE PROJECTION: KenPom gives Marquette an 85% chance of victory, with a predicted score of 77-66.

THE STAKES: Survive and advance. Winner moves on to face #3 seeded Oregon Ducks in the next round. Marquette will host Oregon if they win. If Marquette loses, the season is over.

THE RULES: The NCAA has authorized a few experimental rules for the NIT this season. While you’re watching, be ready for the following things:

  1. 10 minute quarters, with a media timeout at the first stoppage after the five minute mark of each quarter. This means three media stoppages (2 in quarter, 1 between quarters) instead of the normal four. The teams will shoot two free throws once their opponents reach five fouls in the quarter.
  2. The shot clock will reset to 20 instead of the full 30 following an offensive rebound.
  3. The free throw lane is four feet wider, 16 feet instead of 12, matching the width used in the NBA.
  4. The three-point line is at 22 feet 1.75 inches, about 20 inches longer than the regular college line. This is the length used by FIBA for international competition, and essentially splits the difference between the NBA arc and the college arc.

MARQUETTE PROBABLE LINEUP

  • Andrew Rowsey (20.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.6 apg, 1.0 spg)
  • Markus Howard (20.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.0 spg)
  • Sacar Anim (7.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.8 apg)
  • Sam Hauser (14.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.0 spg)
  • Matt Heldt (4.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg)

HARVARD PROBABLE LINEUP

  • Christian Juzang (7.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.7 apg)
  • Justin Bassey (7.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.2 spg)
  • Corey Johnson (6.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.2 apg)
  • Danilo Djuricic (5.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg)
  • Chris Lewis (12.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.5 bpg)

Harvard Injury Note: Seth Towns suffered a knee injury with eight minutes left in the Ivy League championship game on Sunday and did not return to the floor. The Ivy League Player of the Year averaged 16 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists this season while shooting 44% from long range. While he walked himself off the floor at The Palestra, he was very clearly in a large amount of pain, and can not be anything more than questionable for this game at this point.

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