No. 6/4 #MUBB Faces Vermont In NCAA Tournament

The No. 6/4 Marquette University men's basketball team (28-6, 17-3 BIG EAST) opens play in the 2023 NCAA tournament with a first-round matchup against Vermont (23-10, 14-2 America East) on Friday, March 17 at 1:45 p.m. CT in Columbus, Ohio, at Nationwide Arena. CBS features the national television broadcast, with Andrew Catalon (play-by-play), Steve Lappas (analyst) and Jamie Erdahl (reporter) calling the action. Friday's winner advances to face the Michigan State/USC winner on Sunday, March 19. Westwood One will also provide national radio coverage with Kevin Kugler (play-by-play) and Jordan Cornette (analyst).

Marquette Making 35th NCAA Appearance

Marquette has earned a spot in the NCAA tournament field for the second-straight season, marking the program's 35th appearance all-time.

MU's No. 2 seed in the East Region is its highest in program history and the team will meet 15th-seeded Vermont for the first time in postseason play and just the third overall. The two programs first met in Milwaukee in 1995-96 and the Catamounts' most-recent visit came on Dec. 5, 2017 and resulted in a 91-81 Marquette win.

MU is looking for its first NCAA tournament win since the 2012-13 campaign when the squad advanced to the Elite Eight. The Golden Eagles were the No. 3 seed that year and eventually fell to Syracuse, 55-39, in the regional final.

The Golden Eagles lost to North Carolina, which would advance to play in the national title game, in the first round of the 2022 tournament.

Marquette owns an overall record of 41-35 in the event and its tournament success includes the following highlights.

1977 NCAA Champions
Three trips to the Final Four (1974, 1977, 2003)
16 trips to the Sweet 16 (most recently 2012-13 – Elite Eight)
35th NCAA appearance, tied for 10th highest total all-time
52nd postseason appearance (35 NCAA, 16 NIT, 1 National Catholic Championship)
One of 20 schools to have won both an NCAA and NIT Championship (1970)

Schedule Preps Team For Tourney Play

Courtesy of five BIG EAST Conference teams (MU, Creighton, UConn, Providence, Xavier) earning invitations to the NCAA tournament, Marquette's schedule included a total of 13 outings (8-5 record) against teams in the 68-team field.

The Golden Eagles also faced Purdue, Mississippi State and Baylor in the non-conference portion of the season slate and Wisconsin, Villanova and Seton Hall are each participating in the National Invitation Tournament.

Marquette Defends Way To Tourney Crown

Marquette's offense has earned well-deserved acclaim all season, but its defense proved to be the difference in the run to the BIG EAST tourney title.

Against St. John's and nationally ranked UConn and Xavier, MU held the three opponents to 36.0 percent shooting from the floor overall and 29.0 percent from long distance. The team forced nearly 15 turnovers per outing in Madison Square Garden, courtesy of 7.3 steals per contest.

Offensively, guard Tyler Kolek averaged 18.7 points per game and was named the event's Dave Gavitt Most Outstanding Player. Guard Kam Jones (12.0 ppg.) and forward David Joplin (10.7 ppg.) earned spots on the all-tournament team.

MU's tourney title was its first since joining the BIG EAST in 2005-06 and just second since league affiliation in 1989-90. Marquette won four games in four days to earn the Conference USA title in St. Louis in 1996-97.

Kolek, Smart Earn BIG EAST's Top Awards

Guard Tyler Kolek was named the BIG EAST Player of the Year and Shaka Smart the BIG EAST Coach of the Year, the league office announced on March.

Kolek, who also was named All-BIG EAST First Team, is the fourth player in school history to claim league player of the year accolades. He joins Jim McIlvaine (1993-94, Great Midwest Conference), Dwyane Wade (2002-03, Conference USA), Jae Crowder (2011-12, BIG EAST) and Markus Howard (2018-19, BIG EAST).

Smart, who is in his 14th season as head coach, was honored for the first time in his career as the league's top coach. He was a unanimous selection by his coaching peers after guiding MU to the regular season title following its ninth-place selection in the preseason poll.

Narrow Victories Key In Current Win Streak

Marquette is currently in the midst of a season-long nine-game winning streak after the victory over Xavier.

MU also claimed nine-consecutive decisions in 2015-16 and last won 10 straight during the 2011-12 campaign when the squad began the year 10-0. In the nine wins, Tyler Kolek leads the way with 18.2 points per game and the Golden Eagles are forcing 15.7 turnovers per contest, led by guard Stevie Mitchell's 2.6 steals per game.

Five of the nine games have been decided by two points or less, including each of the first two outings in Madison Square Garden. For the season, Marquette is 6-2 in one-possession games.