College Basketball

NCAA Basketball: Marquette defeats Seton Hall in Bubble Battle

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:16 p.m. ET

Fansided, Lukas Harkins/FanSided via Busting Brackets

NCAA basketball’s Wednesday night featured several good games, but Marquette’s win over Seton Hall led the way.

In the Busting Brackets Daily Wrap-Up, we go through the major games of the day with a few short summaries and articles to keep you up to date on the recent news in the college basketball world. This covers the major games of yesterday and today, as well as looking at major news stories from across the nation.

We also go through each game of major importance in our “Games to Watch” section, which includes a Game of the Day and a Bubble Battle.

Here we go:

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In our Bubble Battle of the day, four Golden Eagles reached double digits, led by Markus Howard, who dropped in 22. This was nearly a must-win game for them against another potential tournament team. For Seton Hall, Desi Rodriguez led them with 30 points and nine rebounds. Khadeen Carrington also poured in 22 and Angel Delgado had a stellar double-double of 14 points and 19 rebounds.

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Just after climbing into the top-25, Minnesota was destroyed by a Michigan State team that is off to a great start in conference play. Nate Mason led the Golden Gophers with 14 points. Miles Bridges added 16 points for the Spartans in a game that was mostly won on the defensive end of the floor.

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Pitt had a big chance to knock off a top-25 opponent in this game, but they were unable to do the trick. Jamel Artis was a true star of the evening, scoring over half of Pitt’s points in route to a 43-point performance on 15-for-22 shooting. Quentin Snider led the winning team with 22 points, including 3-of-4 from three.

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In the most recent Bracketology, these were the last two teams in the tournament. As a preview for next week, this win by Illinois will likely push them further up the seed list and could easily boot Michigan out, pending other results. Maverick Morgan was 8-of-9 from the field to lead the Fighting Illini with 16 points.

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In what might become an underrated win for Iowa State, Monte Morris poured in 30 points in addition to five rebounds and five assists. Along with Morris, all four of his fellow starters also finished in double figures. Phil Forte had 24 for the Cowboys and Jeffrey Carroll also had 21.

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For a more in-depth look at this game, Lukas Harkins has you covered here.

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For a more in-depth look at this game, Carmine Carcieri has you covered here.

Games to Watch on Thursday, January 12th:

Ohio State Buckeyes @ No. 18 Wisconsin Badgers, 7:00 p.m. ET: Wisconsin, regardless of their loss to Purdue and their lack of big wins, is one of the top teams in the country. It is nearly impossible to win in the Kohl Center, so Ohio State will need to play at their best to get the W.

No. 20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish @ Miami Hurricanes, 7:00 p.m. ET: This is the kind of game that Miami could really use, playing at home against a top-25 team. Notre Dame has had a great season, but that doesn’t make this road game any easier.

No. 17 Purdue Boilermakers @ Iowa Hawkeyes, 9:00 p.m. ET: Iowa has a lot of work to do if they want to get into the tournament, and it starts right here with a home game against Purdue. The Boilermakers are the Big Ten favorite right now, and Iowa needs this one if they want to keep their hopes alive.

No. 25 USC Trojans @ Utah Utes, 9:00 p.m. ET: Utah, just like Iowa, has a lot of work to do to make the tournament. The Utes are very weak in terms of quality wins, and it doesn’t get much better than USC at home. The Trojans are on the verge of dropping out of the top 25, so this is a win they need to earn.

SMU Mustangs @ No. 22 Cincinnati Bearcats, 9:00 p.m. ET: Both of these teams are likely to be the frontrunners in the American Athletic Conference, which means this game could go a long way towards the eventual winner of the conference.

No. 4 UCLA Bruins @ Colorado Buffaloes, 11:00 p.m. ET: Colorado has the chance for a huge upset at home in this one. That’s about it. UCLA is the favorite to win the Pac-12 along with Oregon, so winning these road games can help them move towards that conference title.

Best of Yesterday from Busting Brackets:

Bracketology: The fun of college hoops and the Bubble Watch: Lukas Harkins is back with another edition of his Bubble Watch. In addition to Bracketology, he takes a look at which teams are likely to make the tournament as well as looking at those who are right on the edge.

NCAA Basketball: Midseason Wooden Award nominees announced: With the award nominees having just been disclosed, Drew Dinnhaupt has the details on the names and some newcomers.

Duke Basketball: Why the Blue Devils have failed to meet expectations: After a somewhat uncharacteristic start to the season, Carmine Carcieri looks at what is wrong with Duke.

Marquette Basketball: Harry Froling commits to Golden Eagles: On top of grabbing a victory over Seton Hall, the Marquette Golden Eagles also received the good news of a commitment from Harry Froling. Carmine Carcieri has the details.

Atlantic 10 Basketball: Are the Dayton Flyers the team to beat: In what is a very competitive conference at the top with the likes of Rhode Island, VCU, and Dayton, Daniel Benjamin looks at Dayton as the team that could be the favorite moving forward.

Maryland Basketball: Terrapins outlast Hoosiers in College Park: With this loss by Indiana, the Hoosiers fell to 1-3 in the Big Ten. Bryce Bennett has the details of the game and the potential for Maryland to keep moving up the conference standings.

ACC Basketball: Seminoles down Blue Devils in conference showdown: After another giant win by Florida State, Stuart Gill is here with a recap as well as well as some thoughts about the game for both teams.

That ends today’s Daily Wrap-Up. Tune in tomorrow for another edition and have a great day!