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1. No. 5 Marquette vs. No. 12 Murray State (4:30 p.m., TBS)

All-America guards Markus Howard (25.0 ppg) and Ja Morant (24.6 ppg) can both fill it up, making for a must-watch individual matchup. But which team wins? Right now Howard’s Marquette’s team is struggling (losing five of six) and Morant’s is a trendy upset pick as a mid-major because of it.

Ja Morant (24.6 PPG) and Markus Howard (25.0 PPG) are two of the country's top-10 scorers, the only members of that list to be playing in the NCAA tournament. And they just happen to be playing each other. For NBA executives, hoops junkies and the fans who leave work for lunch on Thursday and don't plan to return, it's the sexiest matchup of the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Marquette (24-9) comes wobbling into the NCAAs, as they've lost five of six games. Howard shot 1-for-15 from the field in their last loss, a technical-marred slobberknocker against Seton Hall in the Big East Tournament. America is skeptical of the Golden Eagles, as more than 40 percent of the participants in the Yahoo Sports Tourney Pick'em game have chosen Marquette to lose. That's the most popular 12-5 upset pick, and a testament to both Morant's star power and Marquette's downshift from Final Four darkhorse to Thursday happy-hour participant.

admin wrote:
Marquette -4.5