The Big East Conference tournament tips off with a classic college basketball matchup between the No. 9 seed Marquette Golden Eagles and No. 8 Georgetown Hoyas.
Both of these teams will need a miracle run through the Big East tournament if they want to get to the Big Dance and that journey begins with the Golden Eagles as 2.5-point favorites when the two meet at Madison Square Garden.
Here are our best free Marquette vs. Georgetown picks and predictions for NCAA hoops action on Wednesday, March 10, with tipoff at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Marquette vs Georgetown odds
Sharp money and line movement report
By Patrick EversonAs of 11:45 a.m. ET today, Marquette is out to -3.5 at FanDuel after opening -2.5 Tuesday afternoon. The Golden Eagles are taking 72 percent of bets and 71 percent of money on the point spread. The total opened at 143.5, peaked at 145 and is now 144.5, with the Over getting just 55 percent of bets, but 82 percent of cash.
Check out the full line movement for this gameMarquette Golden Eagles vs Georgetown Hoyas betting preview
Injuries
Marquette: Oso Ighodaro F (Out).
Georgetown: Jalen Harris G (Out).
Find our latest NCAA basketball injury reports.
Betting trend to know
Marquette is 5-1 in its last six games overall. Find more NCAA betting trends for Marquette vs. Georgetown.
Against the spread (ATS) pick
It's been a roller coaster year for both Marquette and Georgetown. The Golden Eagles went 13-13 this season and 8-11 in the Big East, while the Hoyas were 9-12 overall and 7-9 in the conference. But while both teams were inconsistent, it's Marquette who is coming in with the better form.
Marquette comes into this matchup winners of four of its last five games and has covered the spread in five of its last six. The Golden Eagles’ defense has really stepped up over that six-game stretch, allowing 65.7 points per game during that span.
On offense, Marquette is led by double-digit scorers Dawson Garcia, DJ Carton, and Koby McEwen, and that trio will go up against a Georgetown defense that just allowed 98 points to UConn.
That loss was the Hoyas' fourth in their last eight games, keeping the roller-coaster theme intact. The Georgetown defense isn’t as bad as they showed against the Huskies but isn’t anything to write home about as well, ranking 87th in adjusted defensive efficiency.
On offense, Georgetown relies too heavily on three-pointers and when shots aren’t dropping things can get rough for the Hoyas. In their last four losses, the Hoyas averaged 65.3 points per game, shooting just 40.3 percent from the field.
Additionally, Marquette took the only meeting between the two by a score of 64-60 back on January 2nd, and with the Golden Eagles coming into this one playing the better basketball at the moment, we like them to get through this round and cover the spread.
PREDICTION: Marquette -2.5 (-110)
Over/Under pick
In their only meeting of the season, Marquette held Georgetown to a putrid 5-24 from 3-point range, so it’s no surprise the game easily fell Under the total of 148.5. That, plus Marquette’s defensive improvements has given us a reasonable total of 143.5. And that number is low enough that we’re leaning toward the Over.
The Golden Eagles have averaged 72.2 points over their last five games. While they did a great job of contesting the Hoyas’ deep attempts in that January affair, over the course of the season Marquette hasn’t been the best on the perimeter, ranking 227th in the country in opponent 3-point percentage and ninth out of 11 Big East teams.
Expect the Hoyas to hit a few more shots in this matchup, and send the game above the number.
PREDICTION: Over 143.5 (-110)
Marquette vs Georgetown betting card
- Marquette -2.5 (-110)
- Over 143.5 (-110)
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