Former Big East foes will square off on Saturday afternoon when the Syracuse Orange host the Georgetown Hoyas. Both of these perennial powers have had shaky starts to their seasons, but while the Orange are coming off of a Final Four appearance last season, the Hoyas didn’t even make the NCAA Tournament. Only Georgetown has a win of consequence so far this year, but four non-conference losses already means they are in more dire straits than Syracuse.
Don’t miss the hardwood action from the Carrier Dome at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, December 17, 2016. Catch every moment of the game live on ESPN. We will have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Georgetown covered just its second game of the season last week against La Salle, and covered for the first time as a favorite. In their previous four times as a betting favorite, they were 0-4 ATS with two outright losses. Over has been a solid bet lately for the Hoyas, with three of their last four going over the total.
Syracuse has only covered once this season, but has only seen lines in four of its games. The Orange have blown out all the patsies, save North Florida, on their schedule, but were beaten by double digits by both Wisconsin and South Carolina and dropped a neutral site game to Connecticut last week as an 8.5-point favorite.
Matchup to Watch
The biggest key to this game is whether or not Georgetown can defeat Syracuse’s 2-3 zone. That defense has once again paid dividends for the Orange this year, and Syracuse ranks among the best units in the nation by any statistical measure.
Ken Pomeroy has Syracuse as the 15th-best defense in the country and more traditional methods show this defense as a pretty good one as well. The Orange are allowing offenses to score just 61.2 PPG against them on the strength of a defense that is allowing opponents to hit just 35.2 percent of their field goals and 27.4 percent of their three-point attempts.
Georgetown is shooting well on the season, but is heavily reliant on production from Rodney Pryor and LJ Peak. If these two can’t shoot well against the zone, the Hoyas are going to be in trouble.
Last Year’s Meeting
The Hoyas emerged victorious when these teams met last season and the performance of Bradley Hayes was a big reason why. Hayes led all Georgetown scorers with 21 points on the day and went 8-12 from the floor with 8 rebounds as well. He was limited by injury early this season, and has had some issues rounding into form, but was the key to unlocking the 2-3 zone last year.
As for Syracuse, the reason the Orange lost last season was simple, they couldn’t hit their shots. Syracuse took 11 more shots than Georgetown did during the game, but only made 38.1 percent of those chances. The Orange aren’t a great interior team this season, but are hitting threes and that’s important.
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The Hoyas suffered a blow when Isaac Copeland announced he was transferring last night. Copeland was one of the team’s leading scorers last year, but had his minutes yanked around this year as John Thompson III has tried to make room for youngsters and transfers. He wasn’t shooting well, but was solid on the boards, and was one of the reasons the Hoyas beat the Orange last year.
Georgetown has won four in a row, but only La Salle was a team of note and this team still has a lot left to prove. Until JTIII settles on a line-up, it’s unwise to have a lot of confidence in Georgetown, so take Syracuse and lay the points.
College Basketball Odds: Syracuse 75, Georgetown 64
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