The No. 2 seed continue their quest for the second national championship in program history when they face the 11th-seeded Wolfpack in the South Region semifinals of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Friday. Marquette (27-9), which has reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013, won its only title when it defeated North Carolina in 1977. The Golden Eagles opened this year's NCAA Tournament with an 87-69 triumph over Western Kentucky and followed with an 81-77 victory against Colorado. NC State (24-14) lost its final four regular-season contests but is riding a seven-game winning streak after defeating Oakland 79-73 in overtime on Saturday in its second-round matchup. Tipoff from
American Airlines Center in Dallas is set for 7:09 p.m. ET. The Golden Eagles are 6.5-point favorites in the latest Marquette vs. NC State odds via SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 151. Before entering any NC State vs. Marquette picks, . The model simulates every Division I college
basketball game 10,000 times. It enters the Sweet 16 round of the 2024 NCAA tournament on a 152-109 roll on all top-rated dating back to last season, returning more than $1,800 for $100 players. It also has a strong 32-21 (+890) record on top-rated spread picks this season, and it called 13 Sweet 16 teams this year. Anyone following has seen huge returns. Now, the model has set its sights on and revealed its March Madness picks and predictions. . Here are several and trends for NC State vs. Marquette: After being held to 57 points by in the Big East Tournament championship game, the Golden Eagles have returned to their high-scoring ways in "The Big Dance." The club had four players score in double figures in its first-round victory and five members record 10 or more points in the Round-of-32 triumph. Junior guard and junior forward reached double digits in both contests, while senior guard posted back-to-back double-doubles after missing Marquette's previous six games with an oblique injury. Jones led all players with 28 points against Western Kentucky in the opening round and poured in 18 versus
Colorado, making a total of nine 3-pointers in the wins. Joplin recorded his first career double-double last Friday as he scored 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds against the Hilltoppers. Kolek had 18 points and 11 assists in that contest, then proceeded to score a game-high 21 points and dish out 11 more assists on Sunday. He has matched the school record for most assists in an NCAA Tournament game, which was set in 2003 by Dwyane Wade, twice in three days. . All five starters reached double digits in points for the Wolfpack in Saturday's triumph over Oakland. Senior forward . led the charge with 24 points on 9-of-12
shooting and pulled down 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Burns has scored 10 or more points in every game during NC State's current seven-game winning streak. Senior guard added 12 points in the Wolfpack's second-round victory, while junior forward recorded his sixth double-double of 2023-24 and fourth in five contests with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Diarra, who had 17 points and 12 boards against , has hit double figures in rebounds on 13 occasions this season. Junior forward is a dangerous weapon off the bench for NC State as he was 6-for-8 from the field and finished with a team-leading 21 points in the win over the Red Raiders. . SportsLine's model is leaning Over on the total, projecting 153 combined points. The model also says one side of the spread hits in well over 50% of simulations. .