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The Marquette Golden Eagles take the court on Sunday afternoon for one final test before BIG EAST play opens for them on Wednesday night. The Golden Eagles will welcome the Presbyterian Blue Hose to the Bradley Center for a Sunday matinee.
How to watch, listen, or stream
Game time: 1 p.m. CT
TV: FS1 (Alex Faust and Dickey Simpkins)
Radio: 540 ESPN
Streaming: FOX Sports GO (where available)
Gamblin' Info
Line: Marquette opened as 23-point favorites. The line has moved from between 22.5 and 23 points, depending on where you look, per OddsShark.
Records ATS: Marquette is 5-5 against the spread whereas Presbyterian is 0-0, having not been posted until this game.
O/U: 140.5
Series History
This is the third matchup between these two schools. Marquette has won both of the previous two. The Golden Eagles won 102-62 in 2009, and 84-45 in 2008.
3-Point Preview
1. Presbyterian is... offensive
I don't mean that like they have a good offense. Their offense may offend you. They come into this game with an AdjO of 90.7, good enough for bottom 10 in the country.
To make matters worse, they turn the ball over a ton. The Blue Hose come into this game with a TO% of 22.1%, 329th in the nation.
The offensive woes can be blamed on a number of things, but perhaps the biggest issue is the lack of experience Presbyterian has. Their average experience is 1.23 years. National average is 1.70 years.
2. Marquette is defensive
The Golden Eagles have an AdjD of 96.7, which is 56th in the nation.
If you take into account that the Golden Eagles' stout defense will likely force Presbyterian's bad offense into turnovers and bad shots, coupled with the fact that Presbyterian has only two players taller than six-foot-eight, Henry Ellenson and friends should have a field day on both sides of the floor.
3. Final tune-up
As mentioned above, this is Marquette's final test before conference play opens.
Following this game, the Golden Eagles welcome one of the Big East's biggest surprises so far, the Seton Hall Pirates, to the Bradley Center.
That game has big implications for both sides, as Seton Hall looks to start conference play, a time that has plagued Kevin Willard during his tenure, off on the right foot.
Marquette also needs a strong start to conference play, because their nonconference schedule has been relatively awful (329/351 teams, per KenPom). With the suboptimal nonconference schedule, the Golden Eagles need to go .500 in the Big East at the very least.