WISCONSIN — Both the Marquette and Wisconsin men play Friday in the NCAA basketball tournament.
Coach Shaka Smart has Marquette in the NCAA tournament for the third straight year. The Golden Eagles are hoping to go deeper this season than last, when they were upset in the second round.
“There was times where maybe look like we were out the game, but you look at the score, we’re still in the game,” said Marquette guard Stevie Mitchell. “Just learning from that, and learning that the game’s not over until the game’s over.”
“I feel like we’re more equipped than last year,” said Marquette guard Chase Ross. “I wasn’t here the first year they went to the tournament, but I feel like just the first two years, it’s a lot of nerves. For being a new group. But I feel like this year we’ve been there, we got our feet wet so we’re more equipped for what we know we want to do this year.”
The Golden Eagles got a nice sendoff as they boarded their bus Wednesday afternoon on campus. They play Western Kentucky in Indianapolis Friday afternoon at about 1 p.m.
Marquette’s star guard Tyler Kolek appears to be on track to return from an oblique injury.
“Tyler has practiced,” said Smart. “He has gone live. He has gone a five-on-five up and down the court. He’s done a lot of good things. At the same time, he’s coming back to playing after being off for three weeks.”
The NCAA tournament can bring pressure, but Smart said he wants his team to enjoy the journey.
“We want to enjoy everything we do,” said Smart. “That’s part of the experience of being at Marquette. Our guys are the gladiators. Everybody else is the crowd, and it’s a special opportunity. But make no mistake about it, it’s a four-team tournament down there after tonight.”
Meanwhile, the Badgers play James Madison, winners of the Sun Belt tournament, Friday night in Brooklyn.
“We’ve been here before,” said Badgers guard Chucky Hepburn. “We lost in the second round. I don’t want to just go make March Madness. I want to make a deep run in this tournament.”
“We will have to continue to play well,” said Badgers coach Greg Gard. “I think that’s the main thing, where we’re at right now and how we’ve been playing the last six games. We’ve got to keep our foot on the gas in that regard and see how far we can roll this down the road.”
Tip-off for the Wisconsin-James Madison game is set for around 8:40 p.m. Friday night.