Wednesday Night College Hoops
College Hoops: Wednesday Night Preview
There is only one ranked matchup on the college basketball betting schedule on Wednesday night, but No. 8 Syracuse at No. 13 Georgetown isn’t the only game worth a look as two of the three remaining undefeated schools will also be in action.
Syracuse heads to Georgetown on Wednesday riding a seven-game winning streak. The Orangemen easily handled Rutgers 82-66 on Saturday as a 7-point favorite on the college basketball odds. Paul Harris was nearly perfect in the win, with 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting, and Arinze Onuaku added 19 points on an impressive 8-of-9 shooting. As a team Syracuse hit 61 percent from the floor, but they could have done better from the free-throw line where they shot a dismal 63 percent.
Georgetown finally returned to their winning ways over the weekend after suffering through back-to-back losses to Pittsburgh and Notre Dame. The Hoyas got things going again with an 82-75 win over Providence, but they failed to cover the 11.5-point spread on the college basketball odds. Austin Freeman led Georgetown with 18 points, but Greg Moore delivered the best all-around performance with 13 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, and five steals.
When the Orangemen and Hoyas met up last season each came away with a win on their home court. However, Syracuse’s victory came as an underdog, as they were a 3-point ‘dog in their 77-70 win over Georgetown.
The two undefeated squads putting their perfect records in the line on Wednesday night are top-ranked Pittsburgh against South Florida, and No. 2 Wake Forest versus Boston College.
The No. 1 Panthers improved to 15-0 over the weekend by wasting St. John’s 90-67 as a 20-point favorite. Panthers big man DeJuan Blair was a one-man wrecking crew with 23 points and 15 rebounds, while Levance Field chipped in with 13 points and 9 assists.
The Bulls played their best game of the season last time out, but it came against lightweight competition in DePaul. South Florida ripped the Blue Demons 80-58 as a 6.5-point favorite, handing them their fourth straight loss. Dominique Jones led the Bulls with 22 points and 8 rebounds, while Jesus Verdejo had 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. South Florida will be hard-pressed to repeat that kind of performance against Pitt.
When the Panthers and Bulls hooked up last season Pittsburgh ran over them 79-66 as a 2.5-point road favorite.
Wake Forest climbed up to No. 2 in the rankings after upsetting North Carolina on Sunday. The Demon Deacons improved to 14-0 with the 92-89 victory as a 6-point underdog. Jeff Teague paced Wake Forest by unloading a career-high 34 points on the Tar Heels. Chas McFarland also had a strong game, matching his season-high with 20 points to go along with 9 rebounds. The Demon Deacons are flying right now, but they can’t take Boston College lightly because they don’t know which version of the Eagles they’re going to get.
The Eagles have been a perplexing bunch so far this season. Last week Boston College handed North Carolina their first loss of the season, only to follow that up with back-to-back upset losses to Harvard and Miami. Boston College fell to the Hurricanes 77-70 on Saturday as a 2.5-point favorite. Tyrese Rice led the Eagles with 21 points, but he did it on poor 6-of-18 shooting. As a team the Eagles were no better, hitting only 36 percent from the floor. If they come out like that again on Wednesday they’ll be cooked by Wake Forest.
The Eagles did get the better of Wake Forest last season, hammering them 112-73 as a 3-point home favorite. In their last four meetings with the Demon Deacons Boston College is 4-0 both straight-up and ATS.
