NCAA Tournament: North Carolina vs. Marquette 3/17/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The North Carolina Tar Heels and Marquette Golden Eagles clash Thursday in the NCAA tournament first round matchup in college basketball action from the Dickies Arena.

The Marquette Golden Eagles come into the tournament as the #9 seed, finishing the year at 19-12 overall, including an 11-8 mark in conference play. The Golden Eagles’ stay was short-lived though, as Marquette fell to Creighton in the quarterfinals. Justin Lewis leads the Golden Eagles in scoring and rebounding with 17.1 PPG and 7.9 RPG while Darryl Morsell has 13.5 PPG as the only other double-digit scorer for Marquette so far this season. Tyler Kolek also leads Marquette in assists with a team-high 5.7 APG as well this season. As a team, Marquette is averaging 74.8 PPG on 45.5% shooting from the field, 34.8% from three and 74.3% from the foul line while allowing 70.8 PPG on 40.8% shooting from the field and 31.5% from three this season.

The North Carolina Tar Heels come into the conference tournament as the #8-seed, finishing the year at 24-9 overall including a 15-5 mark in ACC conference play. The Tar Heels took down Virginia in the quarterfinals before falling to Virginia Tech in the conference semifinals. Armando Bacot leads UNC in scoring and rebounding with 16.5 PPG and 12.5 RPG, averaging a double-double per game while Caleb Love has 15.4 PPG with 3.4 RPG and a team-high 3.8 APG. R.J. Davis has 13.3 PPG with 3.6 RPG and 3.4 APG while Brady Manek has 14.4 PPG with 5.7 RPG to round out the scoring in double figures for the Tar Heels so far this season. As a team, North Carolina is averaging 78.6 PPG on 45.8% shooting from the field, 37.4% from behind the arc and 77% from the foul line while allowing 72.6 PPG on 43.6% shooting from the field and 34.8% from three this season.

Marquette is 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games overall and 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 NCAA tournament games while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 Thursday games. North Carolina is 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 games against a team with a winning record and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 NCAA tournament games while the over is 5-1-1 in their last 7 games following an ATS loss.

I get that Shaka Smart is a dangerous coach to bet against when it comes to playing in March, especially in the NCAA tournament. However, I just think that North Carolina has the edge here as I don’t see Marquette having an answer for a guy like Bacot. I don’t envision North Carolina having an extended run in the tournament, but I think they get it done against Marquette here. Give me the Tar Heels in this one.