NCAA Picks and Tips: Syracuse Orange and Louisville Cardinals

Monday, February 13, 2012

by Mike Stewart

Jim Boeheim - NCAA Picks and Tips: Syracuse Orange and Louisville Cardinals

Jim Boeheim is the third-winningest coach in college basketball history. That being said, the hall of fame coach hasn’t had much success against Rick Pitino – his former assistant – in recent years. Pitino and Louisville Cardinals
have won seven straight meetings with Syracuse Orange, a streak that has put Boeheim on edge with the local media.

 The latest rendition of this rivalry features two of the hottest team in the country and will almost assuredly be played at a frenzied pace. Both teams like to run and create offense from their defense.

Syracuse is fourth in the nation in steals (9.8), while Louisville is sixth (9.4). In the last meeting, Kyle Kuric scored 23 points and hit five of the Cardinals’ 13 3-pointers in a 73-69 win last February. Louisville leads the series 13-4, and hasn’t lost to Syracuse since 2005-06, its first season in the Big East.

- Syracuse Orange @ Louisville Cardinals
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, February 13, 2012
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
TV: ET; ESPN, ESPN 3

The Orange have opened as 3-point favorites on SBG Global Sportsbook’s Live NCAA Basketball Odds.

Syracuse Orange (25-1): Syracuse has won five straight since suffering its lone loss on the road to Notre Dame. Seven players average at least seven points for the Orange, which leads the Big East in scoring (77.8). Saturday’s 85-67 dismantling of Connecticut led Boeheim to proclaim, “this is the best we’ve played (offensively) all year.” Scoop Jardine, who’s fourth in the Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4), scored a season-high 21 points. Defensively, Syracuse’s vaunted two-three zone is holding opponents to just 38.5 percent shooting – the third-best mark in the Big East. The zone is anchored by seven-foot sophomore center Fab Melo, who is averaging 11.0 points and 3.6 blocks in three games since returning to the lineup.

Louisville Cardinals (20-5): The Cardinals had a horrific start to the conference portion of their schedule – winning just two of their first six – but have won six straight since. The offense is finally catching up to the defense, which ranks third in the nation (37.2 field goal percentage defense). Louisville is averaging 75.3 points during its winning streak, compared to 67.3 at the start of league play. The matchup between Melo and the frontcourt of Gorgui Dieng and freshman Chane Behanan will be one to watch. Dieng leads the conference in blocks (3.24) and is fourth in rebounding (9.2). Behanan, meanwhile, is averaging 12.5 points and 8.8 rebounds over the last six games. The Cardinals are also starting to get healthy, and the return of highly-regarded freshman swingman Wayne Blackshear is a big boost.

NCAA Basketball Betting

1. “Now we’re going to (write) that I’ve lost six straight to Rick Pitino? Why don’t we write that I beat him six straight (when Pitino was at Providence and Kentucky)? ” – Boeheim, speaking to reporters prior to last season’s loss to Louisville.

2. The Orange’s achilles’ heel has been rebounding (35.6 per game - 11th in Big East) and it could struggle against the second-best rebounding team in the conference (39.1).

3. Blackshear, a McDonald’s All-American who missed more than three months with a shoulder injury, scored 13 points on five-of-nine shooting against West Virginia, Saturday.

NCAA BASKETBALL PREDICTION: Orange 72, Cardinals 67.

Bet on NCAA College Basketball games with SBG Global Sportsbook

Related Articles

Category

Tags

chane behanan - fab melo - gorgui dieng - jim boeheim - kfc yum! center - kyle kuric - louisville cardinals - rick pitino - scoop jardine - syracuse orange