Marquette Golden Eagles: 19-12, 10-8 in the Big East
Head coach: Steve Wojciechowski (3rd season)
Players to watch: Markus Howard (13.2 PPG, 54.9 3PT%); Jajuan Johnson (11.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.9 SPG); Luke Fischer (11.0 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 64.6 FG%)
Season recap: Steve Wojciechowski, a former Duke point guard and longtime assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski, is going to the NCAA tournament as a head coach for the first time with the most accurate 3-point shooting team in the country. Marquette shoots 43.0 from beyond the arc—comfortably ahead of the second-best team in the country—led by Howard, a 5-foot-11 freshman. His 54.9 percent clip from downtown is the best in the nation among players that make at least 2.5 triples per game.
The Golden Eagles have a balanced attack, with five players averaging double figures in scoring and few household names, but after losing one-and-done lottery pick Henry Ellenson last year, they surprisingly improved on last season's below .500 conference record. The defining week of Marquette's season came in late January, when it went on the road to knock off then-No. 7 Creighton 102-94 before rallying from a 17-point deficit three days later to stun then-No. 1 Villanova 74-72. Those were the Golden Eagles' only two wins against ranked opponents all year, but they were just enough to let Marquette sneak into the NCAA tournament for the first time in four years.
How they make a run: The Golden Eagles get hot from the outside to approach 100 points in their first two games, and Wojciechowski picks up a career-defining win against his coach and mentor as Marquette stuns Duke to advance to the Sweet 16.
How they falter: The second-worst scoring defense in the Big East struggles to guard anybody, and the Golden Eagles' lack of frontcourt depth dooms them in the paint against a physical opponent in the first round.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.