The Marquette Golden Eagles will take on the Kansas Jayhawks in one of the semifinal games of the NIT Season Tip-Off. The game will be played at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and the winner will take on the Louisville-Tennessee winner. These two storied programs have not met since the National Semifinal in 2003.
Marquette comes into this game with a 3-1 record, but their lone loss was of the blowout variety. The Golden Eagles went into Assembly Hall and lost to the Indiana Hoosiers, 96-73, in a game that was not close. Kansas brings a 3-0 record into this game, and they are the number two ranked team in the nation. The Kansas Jayhawks are 8.5 point favorites over Marquette in this game.
Hauser, Howard Leading Marquette
The Marquette Golden Eagles are led by a pair of upperclassmen in junior Sam Hauser and senior Markus Howard. Hauser is averaging 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and is the anchor of the Marquette defense. Guard Markus Howard is the top playmaker for the Golden Eagles and comes in averaging 20 points per game. He has a 37 point performance to his name already this season.
Marquette will need to find a way to defend the Jayhawks if they are going to pull off the upset. The Golden Eagles defense was exposed in their lone loss to Indiana, and it will be interesting to see how much they have improved. Marquette allowed Indiana to shoot almost 64 percent from the field in that game, and they had too many defensive breakdowns. The Kansas Jayhawks provide a ton of matchup problems for Marquette in this game.
Kansas Has Plenty of Size
A major advantage that Kansas will have in this game is the size of their big men up front. Center Udoka Azubuike is a monster down low, and he is off to a terrific start this season. Azubuike is averaging 19.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game this season, but he has plenty of help up front. Junior transfer Dedric Lawson has averaged 13 points and nine rebounds per game in his first season in Lawrence.
Head coach Bill Self prides himself on having All-American point guards, and he has another rising star in Lagerald Vick. Vick knocked down seven three-pointers in their most recent win and finished that game with 33 points. The senior guard is averaging 22.3 points per game so far this season and has made over 62 percent of his three-point attempts. The Kansas offense is deep and talented, and they should light up the scoreboard in this game.
Jayhawks Cruise To Finals
The Jayhawks look like a real threat to win the National Championship this season, and they have depth at every position. Marquette has shown glimpses of greatness in the early going this season, but they got blown out in their toughest test of the season. Look for the Golden Eagles to give the Jayhawks trouble for a half, but eventually the talent of Kansas will win out. Bet the Kansas Jayhawks -8.5 to beat Marquette in a blowout.
