NC State to play Marquette in Sweet 16 on Friday
NC State will play No. 8-ranked Marquette at 7:09 p.m. Friday on CBS in Dallas, Texas.
Marquette defeated Colorado 81-77 on Sunday in a spirited shoot-out. The No. 2-seeded Golden Eagles topped Western Kentucky in the first round.
Marquette is currently 27-9 overall and went 14-6 in the Big East under third-year coach Shaka Smart.
NC State improved to 24-14 overall with a 79-73 overtime win over Oakland and defeated Texas Tech in the first round. NC State famously defeated Marquette in the 1974 NCAA Tournament title game.
Marquette plays a three-guard alignment with senior point guard Tyler Kolek, junior shooting guard Kam Jones and junior combo guard Stevie Mitchell.
Kolek, who was a solid player at George Mason, has blossomed in his three years at Marquette. The lefty is averaging 15.1 points, 7.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game, and is shooting 40.0 percent on three-pointers.
Jones is an elite streak scorer, who leads the team with 17.1 points per game and 41.5 percent on three-pointers. Colorado made its move while Jones was out with foul trouble in the second half. Jones had 18 points and four three-pointers against CU, and he had 28 points and five three-pointers against Western Kentucky in the first round. He has topped 30 points in four contests this season.
The 6-3 Mitchell has become the glue guy, who averages 9.0 points and 4.1 rebounds a contest. He shot 28.6 percent on three-pointers this season.
The frontcourt features 6-11, 235-pound senior Oso Ighodaro, who is averaging 13.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He has steadily improved each year and has 45 blocks.
Small ball power forward David Joplin can stretch the defense out to the 3-point line. He is averaging 10.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, and is shooting 36.8 percent on three-pointers.
Smart, who is from Wisconsin, came “home” and got Marquette back into the NCAA Tournament in his first year. He’s 75-29 overall and 42-17 in the Big East in his three years.
Smart inherited Ighodaro, Mitchell and Jones, and brought in Joplin, who he had signed at Texas. Kolek transferred in, and the Golden Eagles have two main players off the best.
The 46-year-old coached six years at VCU and went 163-56. He took the Rams to the Final Four in 2010-11 and turned down NC State’s coaching job to coach four more years in Richmond, Va.
After turning down several other jobs, he took Texas in 2015. He guided the Longhorns to three NCAA Tournaments and won the NIT Championship. Texas was a bubble team when COVID hit.
Smart has now made it to the NCAA Tournament 11 times.
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