Marquette vs UConn | Odds, Preview and Analysis College Basketball

No. 24 UConn looks for the season sweep of No. 18 Marquette in Big East basketball action on Tuesday with the Huskies as home favorites on the NCAAB odds. Both teams will be NCAA Tournament bound.

How to Bet Marquette at UConn NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 6:30 PM ET
Where: XL Center, Hartford
TV: Fox Sports 1
Stream: Fox Sports Go
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: UConn -6 (total 140.5)

Last Meeting

On Dec. 21 in Milwaukee, Marquette lost 78-70 to UConn. Tyrese Martin tossed in a career-high 25 points, R.J. Cole scored 20 for the Huskies. Martin sank 9 of 16 shots from the floor and added six rebounds. Cole hit 7 of 12 shots and handed out seven assists. UConn led 43-37 at halftime and pushed the lead to double digits — 58-47 — on Cole’s three-point play with 13:10 left to play. The Golden Eagles pulled within 66-65 on a layup by Justin Lewis with 4:15 remaining, but Martin scored six straight points and Cole’s jumper capped an 8-0 run to wrap up the win. Marquette was forced to play without second-leading scorer Darryl Morsell due to COVID-19 health and safety concerns. He’s back now.

The Marquette-UConn series is tied 6-6 all-time. At least one of the teams has been nationally ranked in 7-of-12 outings.

Why Bet on Marquette?

The Golden Eagles (16-7) have been off since upsetting No. 12 Villanova 83-73 last Wednesday to complete the regular-season sweep. It marked the fifth time in six games the Golden Eagles faced a team ranked in the Top 25 at the time. They went 5-1 during that stretch. Overall, MU has a national-best six wins over ranked teams this season.

Villanova rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to get within three midway through the second half, but Darryl Morsell sparked a surge that got Marquette’s lead back to double digits. Marquette’s lead didn’t drop below seven the rest of the way. Marquette ended up with a 35-27 rebounding advantage and a 12-11 lead in second-chance points.

Since the league re-organized in 2013-14, only Creighton (2013-14) and Butler (2016-17) had managed to claim both regular-season matchups against Villanova. Marquette is the first team to hold the Wildcats under 40 percent shooting in each game since Providence did so in 2003-04. MU has held five straight Big East opponents under 40 percent shooting for the first time since joining the league in 2005-06.

Redshirt freshman Justin Lewis paced Marquette with 19 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Guard Tyler Kolek tied his career high with 18 points, while Morsell totaled 15 points. Lewis is second in the league in scoring (17.7 ppg.) in conference outings and fourth in rebounding (8.0 rpg.). In all games, Lewis is among the Big East’s best in six categories, including fourth in scoring (16.6 ppg.) and third in rebounding (7.9 rpg). Kolek tops the league in assists-per-game and is sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3). Kolek is dishing out a league-best 6.1 assists-per-game, which ranks 12th nationally.

MU is ranked in both polls for the second-straight week and possession of the 18th position marks the team’s highest since Feb. 10, 2020. The Golden Eagles were picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches poll and are currently in fourth place.

Why Bet on UConn?

The Huskies (15-6) lost their second game in a row Saturday, 85-74 at No. 12 Villanova. Eric Dixon had the breakout game of his two-year career and cruised past his previous best high of 15 points with 24 for Nova. Dixon grabbed 12 rebounds, made 10 of 15 shots for the Wildcats and keyed a 12-0 run in the second half that busted the game open and seemingly put it out of reach.

Villanova played the final 6:53 without star Collin Gillespie and the entire game without second-leading scorer Justin Moore (sprained left ankle). That opened the door for the Huskies to cut a 23-point hole to 10 with 2 minutes left. The Wildcats sealed the win at the free-throw line and made 21 of 22 overall.

RJ Cole led three Huskies in double-figures with 25 points and made all nine of his attempts from the free throw line. Adama Sanogo and Tyrese Martin each added 14 points on a combined 12-18 shooting.

UConn coach Dan Hurley felt the Huskies failed to play up to his standards. The Huskies haven’t beaten a ranked opponent since Auburn on Nov. 24 and haven’t played well on both ends of the court since the 75-56 win against Butler on Dec. 20. Villanova shot for 15-for-24 from the field in the second half. This was the highest field goal percentage any team has had against UConn this season in any half.

“We just didn’t play to our identity from a defensive standpoint,” Hurley said of Saturday’s loss. “We were soft on the backboard. We didn’t look like the elite defensive team we expect to be.”

Sanogo has been named to the 10-player watch list for the 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award. Sanogo, a 6-9 sophomore from Bamako, Mali, is the second-leading scorer (15.0) and leading rebounder (8.4) for the 17th-ranked Huskies (15-5). In Big East games, he is the top rebounder in the conference (10.6), the top offensive rebounder in the conference (4.0), leads the league in field goal percentage (.490), and is seventh in scoring (14.4).