COACH: Buzz Williams, three years at Marquette, three years in NCAA tournament.
HOW THEY GOT IN: At-large bid.
GO-TO GUYS: Jimmy Butler is the heart and soul of the Golden Eagles. He leads the team at 16 points per game, and is a critical part of the Marquette offense in key spots. Darius Johnson-Odom's shooting numbers are down from a year ago, but he's still dangerous from long distance, and is deadly if allowed to get on a roll. A wild card is Jae Crowder, who was the team's big scoring threat in the frontcourt before slumping lately. Chris Otule is the man in the middle, and has emerged into a solid center as a sophomore.
X FACTOR: The key for Marquette is how well it shoots the basketball. The Golden Eagles are 18-3 this season when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent, and has lost just once when making more than half its shots. Of course, it's entering the NCAA Tournament coming off its worst shooting performance of the season, as Louisville held it to under 30 percent in the Big East tournament quarterfinals.
STRENGTHS: It may surprise many to learn that Marquette led the Big East in scoring offense at 73.4 points per game. The Golden Eagles have a lot of players who can hurt opponents when left open, and particularly with Junior Cadougan emerging as a dependable ball-handler, Marquette always has a player in the game who knows how to get his teammates shots. It also tends to take care of the basketball, and won't beat itself with turnovers.
WEAKNESSES: Marquette spent the whole Big East season going through scoring and defending lulls, which helps explain its uneven performance. The Golden Eagles are struggling defending the 3-point line, allowing 36 threes in its three Big East tournament games, and also gave up 12 in its final regular-season game against Seton Hall. The Golden Eagles don't tend to get dependable scoring production their bench, with Vander Blue being a puzzling non-factor in the scoring column.
