NCAA Tournament Game Thread: #8 North Carolina vs #9 Marquette

THE VITALS: #8 North Carolina Tar Heels (24-9, 15-5 ACC) vs #9 Marquette Golden Eagles (19-12, 11-8 Big East)

THE DATE: Thursday, March 17, 2022

THE TIME: 3:30pm Central

THE LOCATION: Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas

THE TELEVISION: TBS, with Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson, and Allie LaForce calling the action

THE STREAMING: March Madness Live

THE RADIO: 94.5 ESPN Milwaukee, available online at Wisconsin On Demand, with Steve “The Homer” True and Tony Smith on the call.

THE LIVE STATS: March Madness Live, maybe?

THE LINE: Marquette +3.5 thanks to our friends at DraftKings

THE PROJECTION: KenPom.com gives North Carolina a 56% chance of victory, with a predicted score of 77-75.

THE EXCITEMENT LEVEL: KenPom.com gives this game a Thrill Score of 69.6, making it the fourth most potentially exciting game of the first day of Round of 64. #1? Murray State vs San Francisco.

MARQUETTE PROBABLE LINEUP

• Tyler Kolek (6.8 pts, 3.8 reb, 5.7 ast, 1.4 stl)
• Darryl Morsell (13.5 pts, 3.5 reb, 2.5 ast, 1.2 stl)
• Justin Lewis (17.1 pts, 7.9 reb, 1.7 ast, 1.1 stl)
• Olivier-Maxence Prosper (6.3 pts, 3.3 reb)
• Kur Kuath (5.6 pts, 3.9 reb, 2.5 blk)

NORTH CAROLINA PROBABLE LINEUP

• RJ Davis (13.3 pts, 3.8 reb, 3.4 ast, 1.1 stl)
• Caleb Love (15.4 pts, 3.4 reb, 3.8 ast, 1.1 stl)
• Leaky Black (5.0 pts, 4.2 reb, 2.5 ast)
• Brady Manek (14.4 pts, 5.7 reb, 1.9 ast)
• Armando Bacot (16.5 pts, 12.5 reb, 1.4 ast, 1.7 blk)

NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND DAY 1 SCHEDULE

All times Central

11:15am: #6 Colorado State vs #11 Michigan, CBS
11:40am: #4 Providence vs #13 South Dakota State, truTV
12:45pm: #8 Boise State vs #9 Memphis, TNT
1pm: #1 Baylor vs #16 Norfolk State, TBS

1:45pm: #3 Tennessee vs #14 Longwood, CBS
2:10pm: #5 Iowa vs #12 Richmond, truTV
3:15pm: #1 Gonzaga vs #16 Georgia State, TNT
3:30pm: #8 North Carolina vs #9 Marquette, TBS

5:50pm: #5 Connecticut vs #12 New Mexico State, TNT
6:10pm: #2 Kentucky vs #15 Saint Peter’s, CBS
6:20pm: #5 Saint Mary’s vs #12 Indiana, TBS
6:27pm: #8 San Diego State vs #9 Creighton, truTV

8:20pm: #4 Arkansas vs #13 Vermont, TNT
8:40pm: #7 Murray State vs #10 San Francisco, CBS
8:50pm: #4 UCLA vs #13 Akron, TBS
8:57pm: #1 Kansas vs #16 Texas Southern, truTV