Marquette-North Carolina thread

Big East meets the Atlantic Coast with a spot in the East Regional final hanging in the balance.

Marquette is making its sixth-straight appearance (29th overall) in the NCAA Championship and its 14th trip to the round of 16. This year’s selection marks the first time since 1980 the program has advanced to the postseason six consecutive years. The 1980 appearance capped a 10-year run in the NCAA’s, which included the 1977 National Championship squad. Legendary coach Al McGuire led MU to a 67-59 win over North Carolina in the title matchup that season, one of nine NCAA appearances during his tenure. MU is 36-29 all-time in the NCAA’s, which includes six appearances in the regional championship game and three in the Final Four. Marquette owns 44 all-time postseason
berths (NCAA, NIT and National Catholic Tournament). Marquette and the other three remaining programs in the East Regional (Ohio State, Kentucky, North Carolina) have combined for a total of 145 NCAA Championship appearances and 73 trips to the Sweet Sixteen. In 2003, MU advanced to the Final Four behind the efforts of guard Dwyane Wade. The Golden Eagles knocked off Holy Cross, Missouri, Pittsburgh and Kentucky before falling to Kansas. Marquette has claimed just one victory in its four all-time meetings with North Carolina, but that win came on the biggest stage possible and resulted in the program’s lone championship. Legendary head coach Al McGuire directed MU to the national title in 1977, which culminated with a 67-59 win over North Carolina in Atlanta, Ga. The game would be McGuire’s last as a collegiate coach. Butch Lee led Marquette with 19 points and Bo Ellis chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds. Walter Davis finished with 20 points for the Tar Heels, who also received 14 points and 11 boards from Mike O’Koren.

Carolina is playing in the NCAA Tournament for the 42nd time, tied for second in NCAA history for most appearances by a program. Kentucky’s 51 appearances rank No. 1, followed by Carolina and UCLA’s 42. UNC has reached 18 Final Fours, including at least one in seven consecutive decades between the 1940s and the 2000s. The 18 Final Four appearances are the most in NCAA history. Carolina has appeared in 143 NCAA Tournament games. Only Kentucky (148) has played in more. Carolina has a 104-39 NCAA Tournament record. That is the most wins, second-most
games and third-highest winning percentage (72.7) in NCAA Tournament history. Carolina made 27 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament from 1975-2001. That is the longest streak in NCAA history. Kansas’s 21 straight trips (active) is the second-longest streak in NCAA annals. The Tar Heels have won at least one game in 27 of their last 28 NCAA Tournament appearances (Carolina lost in the first round in 1999 toWeber State).

Notes courtesy of gomarquette.com and tarheelblue.cstv.com.

Tournament Central

Marquette’s Jimmy Butler prides himself on being a defender first

Buzz Williams, Marquette ready to play spoiler again

Healthy Zeller has been stellar for UNC

Marquette’s Williams fights sleepless nights

Long road: JC to Marquette

 

PROBABLE STARTERS
Marquette
NAME POS. PPG. RPG. APG. FG% FT%
Dwight Buycks G 9.1 3.1 3.5 .464 .682
Darius Johnson-Odom G 16.0 3.0 2.4 .437 .711
Jimmy Butler F 15.8 6.1 2.3 .489 .788
Erik Williams F 2.3 1.7 0.2 .479 .700
Chris Otule C 5.2 3.5 0.2 .570 .583

North Carolina
NAME POS. PPG. RPG. APG. FG% FT%
Dexter Strickland G 7.4 3.2 2.2 .451 .672
Kendall Marshall G 6.2 2.0 6.1 .425 .683
John Henson F 11.9 10.1 2.1 .503 .489
Harrison Barnes F 15.5 5.7 1.4 .426 .752
Tyler Zeller F 15.2 7.1 0.5 .544 .753

 

TEAM STATISTICS………………….. MU………… OPP
SCORING……………………………………. 2719……….. 2465
Points per game…………………………… 75.5………… 68.5
Scoring margin…………………………… +7.1 –
FIELD GOALS-ATT ……………………950-2031….. 908-2068
Field goal pct……………………………. . 4 6 8……….. . 4 3 9
3 POINT FG-ATT ………………………..189-531 …….255-711
3-point FG pct……………………………. . 3 5 6………. . 3 5 9
3-pt FG made per game………………….. 5.3 ……………7.1
FREE THROWS-ATT………………….. 630-907……… 394-597
Free throw pct ………………………….. 6 9 5…………. . 6 6 0
F-Throws made per game ……………..17.5…………… 10.9
REBOUNDS ………………………………..1287………….. 1193
Rebounds per game……………………. 35.8 ……………33.1
Rebounding margin……………………. +2.6 –
ASSISTS ……………………………………..566 ……………..549
Assists per game …………………………15.7……………. 15.3
TURNOVERS……………………………… 437 ………………511
Turnovers per game ……………………12.1…………….. 14.2
Turnover margin ……………………….+2.1 –
Assist/turnover ratio …………………..1.3………………. 1.1
STEALS …………………………………….261…………….. 222
Steals per game ………………………….7.3………………. 6.2
BLOCKS …………………………………….126……………… 121
Blocks per game …………………………3.5……………….. 3.4
ATTENDANCE………………………. 280545…………. 252319
Home games-Avg/Game………… 18-15586 ………11-10551
Neutral site-Avg/Game – 7-19466
Score by Periods ………..1st…… 2nd……….. OT…………… Totals
Marquette………………. 1365…. 1339………. 15…………….. 2719
Opponents ……………….1180…. 1277………. 8……………… 2465

 

TEAM STATISTICS…………………………. NC………………. OPP
SCORING …………………………………………..2718…………….. 2406
Points per game ………………………………….77.7 ………………68.7
Scoring margin …………………………………..+8.9 –
FIELD GOALS-ATT ………………………….986-2182 ………….898-2220
Field goal pct …………………………………… 4 5 2 …………….. 4 0 5
3 POINT FG-ATT ……………………………..182-548…………… 253-768
3-point FG pct………………………………… . 3 3 2 ……………….. 3 2 9
3-pt FG made per game ………………………5.2……………………. 7.2
FREE THROWS-ATT …………………………564-842…………… 357-544
Free throw pct……………………………….. . 6 7 0 ……………….. 6 5 6
F-Throws made per game…………………… 16.1 ………………….10.2
REBOUNDS ……………………………………….1494…………………. 1267
Rebounds per game ……………………………42.7………………….. 36.2
Rebounding margin ……………………………+6.5 –
ASSISTS…………………………………………… 545……………………. 450
Assists per game ………………………………..15.6 ……………………12.9
TURNOVERS ………………………………………473 ……………………496
Turnovers per game ……………………………13.5 …………………….14.2
Turnover margin………………………………. +0.7 –
Assist/turnover ratio ………………………….1.2………………………. 0.9
STEALS……………………………………………. 212 ………………………264
Steals per game …………………………………..6.1……………………… 7.5
BLOCKS …………………………………………….191 ………………………101
Blocks per game …………………………………5.5……………………….. 2.9
ATTENDANCE ………………………………..287155………………… 280462
Home games-Avg/Game………………… 15-19144……………… 10-11604
Neutral site-Avg/Game – 10-16442
Score by Periods…………………….. 1st……….. 2nd…….. OT………. Totals
North Carolina ………………………1326…….. 1373 ………19 ……….2718
Opponents…………………………… 1141………. 1251 ……..14……….. 2406