UNC Basketball vs. Marquette: Game preview, info, prediction and more

The UNC basketball program suffered another postponement after the Atlantic Coast Conference announced that the Boston College Eagles were undergoing contact tracing following positive tests within the Eagles program.

The matchup between the Tar Heels and Eagles was scheduled for Tuesday, February 23 in Chestnut Hill. Luckily for Carolina, it was an away game, not a home game that was postponed this time as the Tar Heels are now 8-0 when playing at home.

Similar to last week with the game against the Northeastern Huskies, the Tar Heels were quick to look for an opponent, regardless of conference affiliation, for the mid-week matchup following the postponement.

The Tar Heels will host the Marquette Golden Eagles on Wednesday. Unlike last week a Twitter callout wasn’t even necessary.

Carolina has had success with Marquette leading the all-time series 4-1, but the one loss looms the largest, as it came in the 1977 NCAA National Championship game, where the then Marquette Warriors beat Dean Smith’s Tar Heels led by Phil Ford.

Marquette basketball is not as formidable as it has been in recent years. They currently sit at the 100 spot in the most recent NET rankings.  Nonetheless, the Heels have a home game and in a season as unpredictable as this one, it’s hard to ask for more.

Marquette is 10-12 on the season with a 6-10 record in the Big East. With only one postponement on the season, the Golden Eagles have been able to play a majority of their scheduled games.

This season and last were off-years for the team, with the pair of Sam and Joey Hauser transferring away from the program in 2019 and the departure of first-team All-Big East guard Markus Howard prior to this season.

The Golden Eagles leaders in scoring are guard D.J. Carton and forward Dawson Garcia, both averaging just over 12 points a game. Garcia also leads the team in rebounds averaging 6.5 per game.

Key to victory for UNC Basketball

After the 99-54 thumping of Louisville on Saturday night. The key to victory will be similar. Even if the Cardinals were cold after not playing for 19 days, the Tar Heels dominated the paint out-rebounding the Cardinals 45-34.

This same frontcourt aggressiveness is necessary once again.

Three-point shooting has been much improved since the beginning of the season, the Tar Heels were 44% from behind-the-arc on Saturday night and will need more of that sharpshooting to come out victorious against Marquette.

Something to watch for

The Tar Heels are coming off a huge win, but the biggest takeaway from the dominating performance was that the freshman were the stars of the show.

Day’ron Sharpe finished with a double-double with 21 points and 11 boards. Kerwin Walton was right behind him with 19 points of his own while going 5-7 from the 3. Not to be forgotten, Walker Kessler and Caleb Love also had impressive showings with 10 and 9 points respectively.

Look for the talented freshman to step-up once again against Marquette, as expected it would take time for their play and confidence to develop and after the last game, the future is looking exceptionally bright.

What you need to know

WHAT? North Carolina Tar Heels (14-7, 8-5 ACC) vs. Marquette Golden Eagles (10-12, 6-10 Big East)
WHEN? Wednesday, February 24th @ 7 p.m.
WHERE? Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
TV? ESPN2
RADIO? Tar Heel Sports Network
LINE? Not Available
LAST MEETING? March 25, 2011. UNC defeated Marquette 81-63 in the Sweet 16 of the 2011 NCAA tournament. Tyler Zeller led the way with 27 points and 12 rebounds, Harrison Barnes finished with 20 points, and John Henson had 14 points with 12 boards.
ALL-TIME SERIES? UNC leads 4-1
PREDICTION? UNC 80, Marquette 71

For more on the UNC Basketball program including a recap of this game, please check back with Keeping It Heel.