The No. 8 Marquette Golden Eagles will finish off their regular season, by taking on Xavier on the road on Saturday, March 9. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. ET, and the game will air on Fox. The story of the game is whether or not Marquette will have standout guard Tyler Kolek who is dealing with an oblique injury.
Kolek is not expected to play. He missed the team’s last game against UConn, and his production was missed as they lost 74-67. Kolek is not only in the running for the Big East Player of the Year but is also a Wooden Award finalist. He averages 15 points, 7.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds over 32.4 minutes per game.
The current expectation is that Kolek will rest for the season finale and then be re-evaluated ahead of the Big East tournament next week. When Marquette beat Xavier at the end of February, Kolek had a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists while adding seven rebounds in 32 minutes. In the loss to UConn, sophomore guard Chase Ross got the start in place of Kolek but didn’t score in his 19 minutes of playing time. He only had three rebounds, two assists and two steals in the box score.
Right now at DraftKings Sportsbook, the Golden Eagles are listed as three-point favorites. The line opened with Xavier as a 2.5-point favorite. The total sits at 156.5.