Marquette Earns 34th NCAA Tournament Invite

Milwaukee – The Marquette University men's basketball team (19-12, 11-8 BIG EAST) has earned an at-large bid to the 2022 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship and will face North Carolina in the first round on Thursday, March 17 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Golden Eagles are the No. 9 seed in the East Region and will face 8th-seeded North Carolina. Tip time and television coverage will be announced later this evening. Marquette last faced North Carolina last season on January 24 at Chapel Hill which resulted in an 83-70 Marquette victory. This will be the third meeting between the two teams in the NCAA Tournament. In their first matchup, the Golden Eagles defeated the Tar Heels, 67-59, to win the 1977 national title game. North Carolina defeated MU, 81-63, in their most recent postseason meeting back in 2011 in the regional semifinals.

Marquette basketball season ticket members, donors and students will be receiving an email on how to request tickets for the first-round game. The deadline to request tickets is Monday, March 14 at 5 p.m. CT. For up-to-date NCAA ticket information, please visit GoMarquette.com or call 414-288-GOMU.

Marquette is making its 34th appearance in the NCAA tournament and first since 2018-19 (lost in first round to Murray State in Hartford, CT). The program, which claimed the national title in 1977 under legendary head coach Al McGuire, also owns 16 trips to the Sweet Sixteen and has participated in the Final Four on three occasions (1974, 1977, 2003).

2021-22 Season Highlights

The Golden Eagles finished 19-12 overall and 11-8 in the BIG EAST, a league that had six teams included in the field
After starting 0-3 in BIG EAST play, Marquette claimed seven-straight league wins, including five against AP Top-25 teams
For first time in school history, MU claimed three-straight wins against AP Top-25 opponents (Seton Hall, Villanova, Xavier) in consecutive outings during the regular season
Marquette swept Villanova for the first time since 2011-12
Of Marquette's 31 games, 12 came (6-6) against teams nationally ranked programs and 13 total games versus opponents in the 68-team field
Forward Justin Lewis (BIG EAST Most Improved Player, All-BIG EAST First Team), Darryl Morsell (All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention) and Kam Jones (BIG EAST All-Freshman Team) were all honored by the league's head coaches
Shaka Smart is the 10^th head coach to take Marquette to the NCAA tournament and has now led three programs (VCU, Texas and MU) to a total of nine NCAAs, highlighted by a run to the Final Four with VCU in 2020-11

Program Postseason History

1977 NCAA Champions (defeated North Carolina 67-59 in Atlanta in Al McGuire's last game)
Ranked in the top-50 in NCAA history in total wins (1,683, 46th) and winning percentage (.617, 35th)
Program is making 34^th NCAA appearance, tied for 10^th highest total all-time
51^st postseason appearance (34 NCAA, 16 NIT, 1 National Catholic Championship; top-10 among all Division I programs)
Three trips to the Final Four (1974, 1977, 2003)
16 trips to the Sweet 16 (most recently 2012-13 – Elite Eight)
One of just 20 schools to have won both an NCAA and NIT Championship (1970)

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Players Mentioned

Kam Jones

Justin Lewis

Darryl Morsell

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