.jpg "Kansas-vs.-Syracuse-(ESPN)")
The Kansas Jayhawks are the No. 2 team in the country and looking to keep up their winning ways. Kansas has dominated the Big 12 under Bill Self winning the conference’s regular season title for the last 13 seasons. They are certainly a large favorite to do so again this year and are considered one of a handful teams with a great chance at cutting down the nets in early April. This Saturday they will face an early season test when they take on the Syracuse Orange at the Hoophall Miami Invitational.
This war on the floor will go down Saturday, December 2, 2017, at 5:30 p.m. ET at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The game will be televised live on ESPN. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Syracuse is off to a great start this season and struck first blood for the ACC in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Orange knocked off Maryland in that one, but didn’t get the cover as they only won by two as a three-point favorite. Syracuse has yet to play outside of the Carrier Dome this season and has played nobody outside of Maryland. The school has taken care of business though and is 6-0 with a 2-3 ATS mark. All but one of those games has gone under the total.
The Jayhawks are 6-0 SU this season as well and 4-1 ATS. The lone loss against the number was a failure to cover by a half-point against Kentucky in Chicago earlier this season, but Kansas has waxed the floor with everyone else. In each of their other victories, the Jayhawks have handily covered spreads of 20 or more points. The defense has played well enough that the under is 3-2 in Jayhawks games this season as well.
Key Stat
Few teams can put up points like the Jayhawks can. Ken Pomeroy currently has Kansas ranked as the best team in the country and its offense is ranked fifth-best in the nation. The Jayhawks have been shooting the lights out with only one major contributor, Devonte’ Graham, hitting less than 50 percent of his field goals from the floor this season.
The Ukrainemaker, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, has been great as a senior. He is knocking down shots left and right and is shooting better from beyond the arc than he is from two-point range. Mykhailiuk is 22-39 from three this season, while going just 19-41 on two-point baskets. His ability to knock down threes makes this team very tough to beat.
Matchup to Watch
It will be interesting to see if Syracuse adjusts its 2-3 zone in order to better match up against Kansas. The 2-3 zone is designed to challenge teams that can’t shoot well from distance and dares them to shoot the three, and the Jayhawks would be more than happy to do that. Kansas is knocking down 45.2 percent of its threes.
We have no idea just how good this Syracuse defense is yet. The Orange are holding teams to under 60 points per game on average and are in the top ten in the nation in shooting defense, but the only decent team they have played so far is Maryland. The Terrapins were able to shoot the ball pretty well against this defense, but too many turnovers and a lack of presence on the glass killed them.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Look for Kansas to be a double-digit favorite in this one, even though its on a neutral site. The Jayhawks are more of a proven commodity than the Orange and there’s a reason Syracuse still isn’t ranked in spite of being undefeated. Syracuse just doesn’t match up well with this Kansas team that loves to shoot from distance, so look for the Jayhawks to win big.
College Basketball Odds: Kansas 84, Syracuse 68
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