The Syracuse Orange are looking to make some history this week. No team that has ever participated in the First Four has made it to the Sweet 16, but the Orange can be the first with a win over the Michigan State Spartans. Playing three games in five days is tough, but Syracuse fans will remember what this team did during the 2009 Big East Tournament and know it can be done. The Orange are likely to be pretty big underdogs per the CBB betting odds in this one though.
This war on the floor will go down Sunday, March 18, 2018, at 2:40 p.m. ET at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The game will be televised live on CBS. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game throughout March Madness.
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Jim Boeheim finally picked up a big win over Jamie Dixon. When Dixon was at Pittsburgh, his Panthers had a 15-6 record against the Orange, and this was a game that Syracuse fans had feared when the brackets were announced. However, TCU was unable to crack Syracuse’s 2-3 zone and the Orange pulled off the upset victory. Syracuse held TCU under 40 percent from the floor, and the Horned Frogs were 3-17 from downtown.
Michigan State nearly blew a big lead against Bucknell in its first-round game. The Spartans seemed to have the game in hand at the two-minute mark, leading by 15 points, but the Bison hit a number of threes to close the gap and easily covered the spread per the NCAAB betting line in a four-point defeat. Michigan State’s front line had trouble stopping Zach Thomas, who went off for 27 points. Syracuse is surely to look at what Thomas did to have success against Michigan State’s bigs.
Key Stat
These last few seasons, Syracuse has played with a perilously thing bench. The Orange heavily rely on their starters to play big minutes in big games and there are going to be some tired legs when Syracuse takes the floor, no matter what Boeheim wants you to believe.
Syracuse’s starting five all played at least 34 minutes in the narrow First Four win over Arizona State with Frank Howard and Tyus Battle each playing 40 minutes. The team doubled down on that against TCU with Howard, Battle, and Oshae Brissett playing all 40 minutes.
The Spartans were able to get Bucknell in a ton of foul trouble in their last game, getting Thomas to foul out with six minutes to go in the game. Michigan State was able to get three other Bison players to pick up four fouls and that is going to be the strategy in this one in all likelihood. Attack Syracuse in the paint and try to draw fouls.
Player to Watch
It’s time for Miles Bridges to shine. Although he would have been a lottery pick in the NBA Draft last season, Bridges came back in order to lead Michigan State to moments like this.
Bridges was fantastic against Bucknell on Friday night, stuffing the stat sheet in a dominant performance. He went 12-22 from the floor for 29 points and also added nine rebounds and four assists. There’s no question he was the star of the show in that First Round matchup.
His game is tailor made to beat a team like Syracuse. Bridges is a guard with size that can beat you off the dribble or shoot over you if you’re afraid of him driving to the paint. He should be able to pick apart the Orange’s 2-3 zone with relative ease.
Free March Madness ATS Picks
In front of a home crowd, the Spartans are going to get a big win. They should win by double digits in this one, with the Orange struggling to keep up in the second half due to fatigue and foul trouble. This is one of my favorite bets on Sunday.
NCAAB Basketball Betting Odds: Michigan State 76 Syracuse 58
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