Bet On College Basketball: Marquette vs Connecticut
UConn is the defending national champion, but the Huskies have been struggling quite a bit of late. Jim Calhoun is still away from the team, and the Huskies seem to be missing a spark.
NCAA Basketball Matchup: Marquette vs. UConn
12:00 PM EST
College Basketball Gambling Odds from Bookmaker
NCAA Basketball Betting Favorite: UConn -2
Over/Under: 139
Marquette is 21-5 on the year, but they are just 4-4 on the road. Can UConn get back to its winning ways or will Marquette pick up a key road win?
The Golden Eagles are led by Darius Johnson-Odom. The man they call DJO is a very good leader in the backcourt. Johnson-Odom is one of those players who can beat you with the three-ball or take it to the hoop, so he is tough to defend. Jae Crowder is the go to guy in the frontcourt. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Crowder is an undersized forward who can step out and knock down the long range jumper, but he is strong enough to muscle around in the paint as well. Crowder averages 16.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
Vander Blue and Junior Cadougan are two underrated players that do a lot of little things well for this Marquette team.
Jeremy Lamb has filled up the stat sheet nicely this year, though his shooting percentage has slowly dropped over the last few games. Often it has been that UConn doesn’t have a second scorer to help out Lamb when the game gets tight.
Shabazz Napier is shooting a miserable 39% from the floor this year. Ryan Boatright has shown glimpses of breaking out, and the Huskies could really use a big game from him in this one.
Andre Drummond is a beast in the paint for the Huskies, and his presence on the defensive end makes life difficult for the opposition. Defensively, this is a pretty good team.
The problem with this squad has been the inefficiency on offense.
UConn isn’t an easy team to beat at home, and I think they’ll show their pride in this one.
Prediction: UConn 71 Marquette 67
