Team #118 - NC Central

On Tuesday, December 6, 2022, I saw my 118th Division One College Basketball team. On this occasion, I saw the NC Central Eagles take on the Marquette Golden Eagles.  NC Central is the 2nd team that I have seen out of the Mid-Eastern Conference. NC Central has a 5-4 record on the year. They most recently played St. Andrews and they won 127-40. The leading scorer for NC Central is Justin Wright averaging he is averaging 16.6 PPG. Marquette has a 6-3 record on the year. They most recently played Wisconsin and they lost 80-77 in overtime. The leading scorers for the Golden Eagles is Kam Jones and Olivier-Maxence Prosper and both are averaging 14.1 PPG. 

The first half of this one was all Marquette. Marquette jumped on NC Central early with a 9-0 lead. The Golden Eagle shot 76% from the field in the first half. The offense was running on all cylinders in this half. NC Central really struggled with the pressure of Marquette. Being NC Central has been tested this year with playing Virginia I thought they would put up more of a fight. However, they did not. Olivier-Maxence Prosper has become a matchup nightmare at the four for Marquette he had 14 points in the first half to lead the Golden Eagles. With the way Prosper has been playing to start the year he has a very good chance to make an All Big East team. As for NC Central, they shot a miserable 35% from the field in the first half. Three players from NC Central (Devin Butts, Brendan Medley-Bacon and Ja’Darius Harris) had six points at the half. Marquette held a commanding lead at the half, 52-29. 

The second half was much of the same song and dance for Marquette. Marquette would lead by as much as 28 in the 2nd half. This Marquette team certainly knows how to knock down bad teams. NC Central will likely be a top four team in the MEAC. They typically always are in the conversation. The unfortunate part for them is at most they will probably get a 15 or 16 seed if they make the NCAA Tournament. I will give NC Central credit they never stopped playing. For them to only lose by 12 shows this team has a lot of fight. Certainly something to build upon going into conference season. Olivier-Maxence Prosper was the leading scorer for Marquette with 25 point. He continues to show a great jump up in production this year. As for NC Central, Justin Wright had 18 points as the NC Central Eagles lost 90-78. Marquette now plays Notre Dame. NC Central now travels to LSU.

For my next games, I will be heading to Chicago for the Legends Classic. Six teams in one day.