Time is officially just about out for the Syracuse Orange and the Florida State Seminoles. Neither one has quite done enough at this point to dance, and both would love to get a win over the other to help firm up their resume on Saturday in Tallahassee.
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HOW THE SYRACUSE ORANGE CAN COVER THE SPREAD
The Orange dominated when these two teams met at the Carrier Dome a few weeks ago, and that really is the only thing separating these teams at the moment. Syracuse was able to get anywhere on the floor it wanted to for shots, and it ended up going 23-of-33 from inside the arc and 8-of-17 from outside of it. If those are the numbers the Orange are shooting again in this game, FSU might as well not even show its face on Senior Day.
Since that point, Michael Gbinije has become somewhat of an assassin from long range. He knocked down 4-of-5 against Florida State, and he added eight more to that against North Carolina.
On the opposite end of the court, the Orange just need to make sure they don't get overrun by a very talented offensive team. The Seminoles can run for sure, but when they were put into situations where they had to generate offense in the half-court against the 2-3 zone, they had no answers.
HOW THE FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES CAN COVER THE SPREAD
The Seminoles are in a much more dire spot than Syracuse. The Orange can lose this game, get to Friday in the ACC Tournament and have nothing to worry about come Selection Sunday. FSU probably needs a win in this game and that same trip to Friday to have a shot of getting in, and it might need to get all the way to the final of the ACC Tournament as well just to be able to punch a ticket to the field of 68.
Leonard Hamilton's crew played like it had its back against the wall against Notre Dame, particularly on the defensive side of the court. The Seminoles forced 11 turnovers against just 20 made shots, and the Irish only had 13 field goals from inside the arc the entire game, eight of which came in the paint.
The Seminoles have the talent offensively with Montay Brandon, Dwayne Bacon, Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Malik Beasley to do some real damage, but if the defense isn't locking down and getting one-and-done possessions, the offense won't mean a thing.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
There's something about the way FSU played against Notre Dame over the weekend which is inspiring to us, and we think this could be the most dangerous of the unheralded seeds in the ACC Tournament. If there's a team playing on Wednesday or Thursday who could make a serious run, this is it.
Syracuse won't have nearly as many days to prepare for this game, and for as talented of a squad as it is, it has a shot to get overrun by a far deeper team in this one.
Desperation often breeds good results for the teams which ultimately need them, and Florida State had better hope it fits into that mold on Saturday. We think that Bacon, who quietly has improved his defensive game to match his offensive prowess, could end up being a big difference-maker in this one. It won't be easy for the Noles, but we think they'll still have March Madness dreams intact when the book closes on Senior Day.
Florida State 72, Syracuse 67
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