Marquette advanced to the third round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Friday night with a 66-55 victory over Xavier in the East Region. The Golden Eagles will now await the winner of the Friday night match-up between third-seeded Syracuse and 14th-seeded Indiana State.
Marquette, seeded 11th, led by 13 at halftime, 33-20, and never really allowed sixth-seeded Xavier to close the gap significantly. Each time the Musketeers tried to mount a second-half rally the Golden Eagles were able to answer.
Darius Johnson-Odom scored 19 points to lead Marquette. The Golden Eagles defense was the big story, however. Marquette held Tu Holloway, the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, to just five points on 1-for-9 shooting.
Here is a look at the current East Region NCAA Tournament bracket.
No. 1 Ohio State def. No. 16 Texas-San Antonio, 76-45; will face George Mason
No. 8 George Mason def. No. 9 Villanova, 61-57; will face Ohio State
No. 5 WVU defeats No. 12 Clemson, 84-76; will face winner of Kentucky-Princeton
No. 4 Kentucky def. No. 13 Princeton, 59-57; will face West Virginia
No. 2 UNC def. No. 15 Long Island, 102-87; will face winner of Washington-Georgia
No. 7 Washington vs. No. 10 Georgia, March 18 at 9:45 on CBS
No. 3 Syracuse vs.No. 14 Indiana State, March 18 at 9:57 on TruTV
No. 11 Marquette def. No. 6 Xavier, 66-55; will play Syracuse-Indiana State winner
During and after the game, follow along with Golden Eagles fans at our Marquette blog, Anonymous Eagle.