Another really close 7 vs 10 matchup showcases South Carolina and Marquette.These two teams are very different. South Carolina wins games with their defense -- they turn opponents over on 21.4% of possessions and have a 90.8 defensive rating. They really struggle on the offensive end as they have an offensive rating of just 101.5 and have an effective field goal percentage (eFG%) of 47.2% which is the worst in the entire tournament field.
Marquette, on the other hand, thrives on offense and struggles on defense. The Golden Eagles have an effective field goal percentage of 57.6%, over 10 points higher than the Gamecocks. However, they also let up an effective field goal rate of 51.9% to their opponents, which is the sixth-worst in the field.
Below are three players to keep an eye on from each team.
| Player | Team | PPG | RPG | eFG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sindarius Thornwell | South Carolina | 21.0 | 7.2 | 0.501 |
| PJ Dozier | South Carolina | 13.6 | 4.8 | 0.439 |
| Chris Silva | South Carolina | 9.8 | 5.7 | 0.550 |
| Markus Howard | Marquette | 13.2 | 2.3 | 0.658 |
| JaJuan Johnson | Marquette | 11.8 | 4.0 | 0.525 |
| Luke Fischer | Marquette | 11.0 | 5.9 | 0.646 |
Here is a quick breakdown of the team stats comparison.
| Team | nERD | O Rtg | eFG% | Reb% | TOV% | D Rtg | Opp. eFG% | Opp. TOV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #7 S. Carolina | 12.29 | 101.5 | 0.472 | 50.7 | 16.1 | 90.8 | 0.448 | 21.4 |
| #10 Marquette | 12.36 | 115.7 | 0.576 | 49.7 | 15.3 | 105.2 | 0.519 | 16.4 |