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NCAA Tournament Predictions: East Region: 3. Marquette vs. 14. Davidson

Guard Junior Cadougan

Guard Junior Cadougan

 3 Marquette (23-8, 14-4 Big East)-Head coach Buzz Williams should have won Big East Coach of the Year honors for the job he did with the Golden Eagles this season. Marquette captured a piece of the league title despite having lost Big East Player of the Year Jae Crowder from last season’s team. This group of Eagles are led by junior guard Vander Blue, who leads the team in scoring at 14.3 points per game. 6-8, 290 pound forward Davante Gardner is an eccentric personality and a load down low. Guard Junior Cadougan has a penchant for knocking down big shots, as he proved by draining a long-range three pointer at the buzzer against UConn to send the game into overtime earlier this season. Marquette is small, with only one contributor above 6-8 (that’d be 6-11 Chris Otule).

The Golden Eagles have the experience and explosiveness in the backcourt to make a run into the Sweet 16. Anything else might be testing their depth,though, especially with a lack of size and half-court capability inside.

 

KEY STATS:

34th Field Goal Percentage (.467)

133rd Points Per Game (69.0)

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Tyler+Thornton+De+Mon+Brooks+Davidson+v+Duke+dTHUv8aRVk0l 14 Davidson (26-7, 17-1 Southern Conference)- Davidson is back in the NCAAs for the second straight year after dominating the SoCon once again. They’ve got capable scorers in senior forward Jake Cohen (14.8 ppg) and two-time conference Player of the Year De’Mon Brooks (13.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg), but no other player averages in double figures.

Still, senior guards Nik Cochran and JP Kuhlman are solid playmakers and Cochran is a deadly three-point shooter (48.5 percent on the season). Of course, the Wildcats have a terrific coach in Bob McKillop, and they are always a threat to pull a first-round upset. They match up well with Marquette and will undoubtedly make this a close contest. They’re probably too one-dimensional to advance any further, though.
 KEY STATS:

40th Points Per Game (73.7)
42nd Field Goal Percentage (.463)

 

PREDICTION:  Davidson 

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