NC State is coming into this game with a 24-14 record this season and they were 9-11 in their conference. They likely would not have made this tournament based on their regular season performance, but recently they have been hot and secured this bid by winning their conference tournament. They have won their last 7 straight games and had some good wins against Duke and UNC during their tournament, but they have not been challenged too much in this tournament so far. They dominated Texas Tech in the 1st round who was not really one of the better teams in the Big 12 this season and they followed up with a win against Oakland in their last game, that game going to OT as well. They are going up against a Marquette team that is 27-9 this season and they were 14-6 in their conference games. Marquette finished the regular season 2nd place in their conference and they also lost in the finals of their conference tournament, but they were playing the last bit of the season while missing some key starters as well. They have been playing much better in their recent games as they have won their last 2 straight as well as 5 of their last 6 games, their only loss in that span coming against UConn, and they finally played their 1st game with everyone back healthy. They beat Colorado by 4 points in that game but they were dominant as Colorado rarely led and when they did it was only for a possession. Colorado did make it more of a game near the end but Colorado is also one of the better shooting teams in the country while NC State is not. NC State ranks in the top 150 for shooting this season and their defense has been awful. Marquette does not have an elite defense but their defense has been much better than NC State's this year and Marquette is also a top 30 team in the country for shooting from the field as well as a top 75 team from beyond the arc so they have the ability to get this game away from NC State in a hurry. Marquette is going to cover the spread in this game.