College Hoops Picks ATS, Feb. 25: UConn Huskies at Marquette Golden Eagles

Connecticut Huskies (13-2, 25-2) at Marquette Golden Eagles (12-2, 23-4)

Wednesday, Feb. 24—7:00 PM EST on ESPN

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Preview

After spending a few weeks as the top ranked team in the country, UConn was knocked down to number two after they lost to Pitt last week. But the Huskies came back after that loss and defeated South Florida (to nobody's surprise) by 14.

Marquette looked unstoppable at the beginning of conference play, reeling off nine Big East wins in a row. But they stumbled twice, losing to South Florida and Villanova, before going on their current three-game win streak.

Both teams only have two Big East losses and sit towards the top of the conference standings (UConn is 1/2 game ahead because they have played one more than the Golden Eagles).

This is going to be a great matchup between two elite Big East teams with very different strengths—UConn in the frontcourt and Marquette in the backcourt.

Connecticut has one of the most dangerous backcourts in the country between Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien, who are both averaging double-doubles on the season. Thabeet is also averaging a very impressive 4.4 blocks per game.

Marquette's offensive force lies within their backcourt—specifically in the senior duo of Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews. Between the two of them, they are averaging nearly 40 points per game and are both shooting over 41 percent from beyond the arc on the season.

But both teams have weapons in other places as well—Marquette's forward Lazar Hayward is averaging 16.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, but he is definitely going to have his work cut out for him, and UConn's backcourt is lead by A.J. Price and freshman Kemba Walker (Jerome Dyson, the team's third leading scorer, is out for the rest of the season).

The Huskies have a chance to regain the top spot in the nation after this week with Pitt being upset by Providence Tuesday night. The only way they can guarantee this is if they can manage to take down Marquette on the road. Don't think that this won't be in the back of both team's minds Wednesday night. This should be a great game to watch—especially if you want to get to know two teams that are going to run deep into March Madness.

By The Numbers

	Record	Conf	ATS	RPI	SOS	PF	PA
Connecticut	25-2	13-2	11-11	6	37	76.1	60.7
Marquette	23-4	12-2	11-10-1	21	89	80.0	68.1

	FG%	D. FG%	3P%	D. 3P%	FT%	RPG	SPG	APG	TPG
Connecticut	47.5	37.2	35.7	30.7	68.8	44.2	5.9	15.1	12.3
Marquette	47.0	43.9	35.0	34.5	70.5	38.0	8.5	16.2	11.9

Stat Leaders

	Connecticut	Marquette
PPG	J. Adrien - 13.8	J. McNeal - 20.0
	H. Thabeet - 13.4	W. Matthews - 18.7
	A. Price 12.3	L. Hayward - 16.0
RPG	H. Thabeet - 10.5	L. Hayward - 8.6
APG	A. Price - 4.5	D. James - 5.3
SPG	K. Walker - 1.0	D. James - 2.3
BPG	H. Thabeet - 4.4	J. McNeal - 0.7

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Prediction

Want to see the line and Ryan's FREE Pick Against the Spread? Please head over to CBBPlace.com!