The Marquette Golden Eagles have made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament!
Blue and Gold Sweet 16 gear is flying off the shelves at the Marquette Spirit shop. We've seen fans going all-in since the tournament began, and that school spirit is only growing stronger on campus.
“Definitely the community and the people around it in the community are so supportive of the team," said Marquette Fan, Brooke Ridgeway.
"Yeah I think the energy last Sunday when the team got back after winning in Indianapolis was awesome," said Fifth Year Senior, Mason Woodward. "So, I think that's going to carry over for this week and this weekend. Getting two wins this weekend and then going to Phoenix.”
"We’re having a blast," said Marquette Junior, Petrea Balsam. "Obviously it makes campus more fun when we're doing well in basketball."
Fans told TMJ4's Sydni Eure that it's hard to contain the excitement — Marquette hasn't made it this far in the tournament since 2013. She asked store staff how much of the Sweet 16 gear has been sold since it arrived Monday morning. Staff say there was a mad dash to buy anything and everything, and thousands of items have already found new homes.
"We had product Tuesday around lunchtime," said Larry Birkett. "It was printed on Monday morning after we advanced to the Sweet 16 and then shipped overnight for next day sales. We've sold, I think,1,000 shirts yesterday, over 1,000 on Tuesday but we still have plenty of gear left."
Some fans said they've been tasked with picking up gear for all their family and friends.
"Sweet 16 t-shirts, I grabbed one for my sister, myself," said Marquette Basketball fan, Kristine Volpano. "This is great, this is absolutely great."
"I think it's just exciting to get the Sweet 16 stuff because we haven't had that before," said Marquette Junior, MacKenzie Mancini. "Plus all my family wanted stuff so."
"Yeah, we've converted some of our home friends to cheer for Marquette, so we'll probably do something with them," said Balsam.
Friday night's match up between Marquette and North Carolina State tips off at 6:09 p.m. We will have coverage live throughout the day.
Watch Sydni's interviews with Marquette fans above.
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