The Marquette Golden Eagles were chosen to compete in the field of 68 by the NCAA selection committee, meaning they’ll be competing in their 31st NCAA Tournament.
Here are five fast facts to help you as you fill out your bracket:
1. Their go-to guy is a 6-4 junior slasher named Vander Blue. He’s quick and creative off the bounce and takes long strides on his way to the hoop. He’s not much of an outside shooter, but he’s averaged 14.3 points on 46% shooting from the field (29% 3FG).
2. Their best free throw shooter is 6-8, 290 pounder Davante Gardner, who shoots 84% at the charity stripe, prompting chants of “Automatic” from the Marquette faithful.
3. Their coach, Buzz Williams, has never taken Marquette past the Sweet 16. He’s done so twice, both in the past two years. Will this be the year he can take the Golden Eagles even further?
4. As a whole, Marquette scores primarily in the paint, at the free throw line or in the mid-range. They shot just 30% from beyond the arc this year. Translation? If they play a team that can neutralize their ability to drive, they could be in big trouble.
5. OJ Mayo’s younger brother, Todd Mayo, is a sophomore on the Golden Eagles. He averages 6.2 points in 14.8 minutes per game.
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Jeremy Bauman is an aspiring shooting coach and scout who writes columns and blogs for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.