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How to watch Marquette vs. New Mexico: Odds, storylines for men's NCAA Tournament matchup

How to watch Marquette vs. New Mexico: Odds, storylines for men's NCAA Tournament matchup

New York Times21-03-2025

Coach Shaka Smart has built Marquette into a consistent NCAA Tournament team. The Golden Eagles have made the tournament in each of Smart's three seasons. Second-team All-American guard Kam Jones is the player to watch for Marquette. Meanwhile, the Mountain West regular season champions are propelled by their leading scorer, Donovon Dent. Jones and Dent are electric, so look for both players to put on a show.
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New Mexico fell in the tournament's first round last year, but Marquette comes into this game not playing their best basketball. Can the Lobos pull the upset?
We've got a breakdown of the strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the matchup, plus odds and viewing info. Our game previews are a collaborative effort between The Athletic staff, The Field of 68 and Brad Evans' The Gaming Juice.
Dive into March Madness with The Athletic
Projecting the bracket | Best picks to win the title
Strengths: No team in college basketball maximizes possessions like Marquette. The Golden Eagles are top 15 in the country in offensive turnover rate and defensive turnover rate. The only other team that can make that claim since 2017 is last year's Houston squad, which was on track to make the Final Four before Jamal Shead's injury. The catalyst for Marquette is its defensive ball pressure. Stevie Mitchell is an elite on-ball defender, and so is Chase Ross. Shaka Smart isn't exactly reigniting the 'Havoc' defensive system from his VCU days, but he is not afraid to lean into the pressure his guards can provide on opposing backcourts.
Weaknesses: The Golden Eagles struggle with rim protection. Ben Gold has not taken the leap many expected, and the young bigs are … well, they're young. One of the downsides of a defense that gambles for turnovers is the lane is left open — opponents shoot 52 percent on 2-pointers. The other notable issue for the Golden Eagles is they don't shoot 3-pointers as well as it's needed. Marquette has hovered right around 32 percent from beyond the arc all season. The offense is predicated on creating space for Kam Jones to operate, and if shooters aren't making shots, the space isn't there.
Outlook: Jones was the best player in college basketball in November. He was playing like a First-Team All-American through January, but he has come back to earth a bit in conference play. Part of that is due to league foes knowing the scouting report on him better than anyone, but that would matter less if the senior guard's supporting cast was playing at a higher level. Jones is capable of putting this team on his back and carrying them to the second weekend, if not deeper. But for that to happen, David Joplin and Chase Ross must play well. If they don't, Marquette is a team that could get picked off in the first round.
—Rob Dauster
Strengths: Younger Pitino has followed in his legendary father's footsteps, instituting sound defensive principles that have guided his team to the Dance. The Mountain West regular season champions create chaos. They're top five in adjusted tempo nationally, and their frenetic pace and relentless on-ball pressure twist teams into a pretzel. Pre-tourney, they forced a turnover on 20.4 percent of opponent possessions. Strong around the rim — grabbing rebounds, scoring and altering shots — New Mexico packs the paint with considerable zeal. With an intimidating frontline of Nelly Junior Joseph, Mustapha Amzil and Filip Borovicanin, the Lobos won't be pushed around inside.
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Weaknesses: Offensively, the Albuquerque reps didn't play at peak elevation in the regular season. In the 30 days leading up to the postseason, they ranked outside the top 140 in adjusted offensive efficiency, netting a mediocre 1.095 points per possession. Though the Lobos stroke it fairly well from outside, only 25.8 percent of their points came via the 3-pointer. They also converted under 70 percent on free throws. Lacking a deep bench, it'll be important to stay out of foul trouble. Despite its lopsided overall record, New Mexico has visible flaws.
Outlook: Channeling the free spirit of Bill Walton (RIP!), New Mexico, at times, flows beautifully like the mighty waters of the Rio Grande. Their frontcourt can bang with anyone, and when the triples fall from Dent, Tru Washington and CJ Noland, they are a very tough customer — don't forget they defeated UCLA and VCU in non-conference play. Draw is everything, but the under-the-radar Lobos have the potential to lash out.
—Brad Evans
(Photo of Kam Jones: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)

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With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster
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WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor coach Scott Drew had plenty of players for the first practice of the summer Wednesday, about two months after the team photo from last season was widely circulated on social media with an X marked over all 14 of those players since none was returning to the Bears. Only four of those players exhausted their college eligibility. Nine others left in the transfer portal and one-and-done guard VJ Edgecombe could become Baylor's highest pick ever in the NBA draft later this month. 'Guys you didn't want to lose and were valuable, we haven't had many that we've lost. Whenever you do, that just tears at a coach, because you feel like you didn't do your job,' Drew said this week. 'With the portal, I think we've all gotten used to a lot more turnover in a hurry, and not to take things necessarily personal.' The Bears rebuilt their roster with eight transfers and a four-player signing class with a five-star prospect and the son of a NBA champion. Among the 14 players at the first practice was Cameron Carr, the former Tennessee guard who transferred to Baylor in the middle of last season long after that team photo session. One of the former Bears was guard Robert Wright, who averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists a game as a freshman last season and had reportedly agreed to a lucrative NIL deal to stay before transferring to BYU for an even bigger package. 'You know people are going to leave. Rob, obviously, was someone we had an agreement with. When you make an agreement, you think you're done,' Drew said, without getting into any specifics. 'Obviously that was a surprise to us, but again, the staff did a great job of putting together a roster and team. That's part of, hopefully, the House settlement , where you get to a point where you know who's on your team and when they're locked in, they're locked in.' The eight incoming transfers have more than 500 of games played combined, including guards Dan Skillings, who played 100 games over three years for Cincinnati, and JJ White, who started 75 of 99 games at Omaha over the same period. Juslin Bodo Bodo is a 7-foot post from Cameroon, started all 71 of his games for NCAA Tournament team High Point the past two seasons. Obi Agbim, a 6-3 guard, was the Mountain West newcomer of the year after averaging 17.6 points and 3.4 assists in 29 games last season for Wyoming. Five-star prospect Tounde Yessoufou, a small forward from St. Joseph High School in California, leads the signing class that also includes Andre Iguodala II, whose father was a four-time champion over 19 NBA seasons with four teams; Italian forward Maikcol Perez and big man May Soyoye. Baylor, Gonzaga and Houston are the only teams to win at least one game in each of the past six NCAA Tournaments, though the Bears have lost in the second round the past four years since their national championship in 2021. Drew and his staff will get an early look at the new squad with Baylor representing the United States at the World University Games next month in Germany. 'Any year you get a foreign tour, it's huge. ... Since we're returning 0.0 (percent of our) scoring, this give us all an opportunity,' Drew said. 'The games will be good for those that can play in it. But the practices will be great for everyone. And then, the one thing everybody leaves out is you do these team-bonding activities. There's nothing better than being overseas, that really brings you together a lot more than when you have all the distractions you do in the United States.' ___ AP college basketball:

With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster
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timean hour ago

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With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster

WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor coach Scott Drew had plenty of players for the first practice of the summer Wednesday, about two months after the team photo from last season was widely circulated on social media with an X marked over all 14 of those players since none was returning to the Bears. Only four of those players exhausted their college eligibility. Nine others left in the transfer portal and one-and-done guard VJ Edgecombe could become Baylor's highest pick ever in the NBA draft later this month. 'Guys you didn't want to lose and were valuable, we haven't had many that we've lost. Whenever you do, that just tears at a coach, because you feel like you didn't do your job,' Drew said this week. 'With the portal, I think we've all gotten used to a lot more turnover in a hurry, and not to take things necessarily personal." The Bears rebuilt their roster with eight transfers and a four-player signing class with a five-star prospect and the son of a NBA champion. Among the 14 players at the first practice was Cameron Carr, the former Tennessee guard who transferred to Baylor in the middle of last season long after that team photo session. One of the former Bears was guard Robert Wright, who averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists a game as a freshman last season and had reportedly agreed to a lucrative NIL deal to stay before transferring to BYU for an even bigger package. 'You know people are going to leave. Rob, obviously, was someone we had an agreement with. When you make an agreement, you think you're done,' Drew said, without getting into any specifics. 'Obviously that was a surprise to us, but again, the staff did a great job of putting together a roster and team. That's part of, hopefully, the House settlement, where you get to a point where you know who's on your team and when they're locked in, they're locked in." The eight incoming transfers have more than 500 of games played combined, including guards Dan Skillings, who played 100 games over three years for Cincinnati, and JJ White, who started 75 of 99 games at Omaha over the same period. Juslin Bodo Bodo is a 7-foot post from Cameroon, started all 71 of his games for NCAA Tournament team High Point the past two seasons. Obi Agbim, a 6-3 guard, was the Mountain West newcomer of the year after averaging 17.6 points and 3.4 assists in 29 games last season for Wyoming. Five-star prospect Tounde Yessoufou, a small forward from St. Joseph High School in California, leads the signing class that also includes Andre Iguodala II, whose father was a four-time champion over 19 NBA seasons with four teams; Italian forward Maikcol Perez and big man May Soyoye. Baylor, Gonzaga and Houston are the only teams to win at least one game in each of the past six NCAA Tournaments, though the Bears have lost in the second round the past four years since their national championship in 2021. Drew and his staff will get an early look at the new squad with Baylor representing the United States at the World University Games next month in Germany. 'Any year you get a foreign tour, it's huge. ... Since we're returning 0.0 (percent of our) scoring, this give us all an opportunity,' Drew said. 'The games will be good for those that can play in it. But the practices will be great for everyone. And then, the one thing everybody leaves out is you do these team-bonding activities. There's nothing better than being overseas, that really brings you together a lot more than when you have all the distractions you do in the United States.'

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