It’s the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and Marquette is getting blown out. Does that sound familiar? Feeling a bit of deja vu?
The No. 9 Golden Eagles quickly put to bed any notion that they were ready to turn the page on their recent NCAA Tourney shortcomings and return to the prime Marquette basketball years. The North Carolina Tar Heels (-3) led Marquette by 28 at halftime and built its lead to 35 points before eventually handing the Big East squad a 95-63 beatdown — Marquette’s third-straight first-round loss of at least 19 points.
What did we expect would happen? Well, my college basketball knowledge (and slight Big East bias) told me that Marquette should be able to handle a solid UNC team coming from a down ACC. Or perhaps the memories of Shaka Smart and his 2011 Final Four VCU team that ran through my mind in the lead-up to this game, which made Marquette a fine pick.
TAR HEELS HAMMER MARQUETTE 😳
(8) North Carolina blows out (9) Marquette, 95-63, to advance to the Second Round! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/CAgGmRoiNC
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 17, 2022
But the reality was that the Golden Eagles more closely resembled their end-of-season selves (4-6 in their last 10 games) than the 15-6 team that they were to begin the year, beating teams like Villanova (twice) and Illinois.
We should have seen this coming.
Nevertheless, Marquette’s NCAA Tournament woes continue while first-year head coach Hubert Davis gets his first NCAA Tournament win and the Tar Heels move on to the second for a date with the defending champion Baylor Bears.
