Marquette (9-2) @ N.C. State (7-1) - December 22nd, 2008

By WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

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Hey, it’s a rematch of the 1974 national championship game on Monday night when No. 24 Marquette plays its toughest road game so far this season - well, OK, also its first road game of the year - at North Carolina State.

The Golden Eagles are 1-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.

Marquette has one of the best backcourts in the country in senior guards Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews and Dominic James, but for the Golden Eagles to make any true noise this season, they need an inside presence. Power forward Lazar Hayward has provided that of late, averaging 17.3 points and 10.8 rebounds in the past four games. Three of those are wins, with the lone loss coming to then-No. 19 Tennessee. Hayward is third on Marquette with 16.9 points per game, and the 6-foot-6 junior is averaging a team-high 9.7 rebounds. He had a career-high 27 points in helping the Golden Eagles bounce back from a loss to the Vols with a 94-77 victory over Western Carolina on Friday.

Matthews is averaging a team-high 20.4 points, McNeal is scoring 17.5 points per game and has made 43.6 percent (24-for-55) from 3-point range, while James is averaging 10.5 points and team highs of 5.4 assists and 2.1 steals.

“(Marquette) has excellent guards with experience,” NC State coach Sidney Lowe said. “They are going to push it, coming at us with great speed and quickness and toughness. We need to be ready to play. We’re going to have to get back in transition and not give them anything easy.”



NC State might be a little worn down, as this will be the Wolfpack’s third game in six days. But NC State is 6-0 at home this season, including 4-0 at the RBC Center. The Pack have won their four games in the RBC Center by an average of 21.0 points. Under Lowe, the Wolfpack are 20-2 (.909) against non-conference opponents at home, losing only to No. 10 Alabama in 2007 and to New Orleans last year.

The Wolfpack lead the ACC in giving up 58.1 points per game (Marquette averages 82.5 ppg), as only two opponents have scored over 60 points. The Wolfpack, whose only loss was to Davidson, also lead the conference in both field goal percentage defense (.352) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.260).

Ben McCauley leads NC State in scoring with his 15.3 ppg, and McCauley is connecting on 57.1 percent of his field goal attempts while grabbing 8.9 rpg. NC State is outrebounding foes by nearly 8 per game.

Bet on Marquette @ N.C. State