March Madness Hoops Predictions – Marquette Golden Eagles vs Syracuse Orange
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NCAA Tournament Bracket – East Region
Sunday March 20, 2011 – 7:45 PM ET
Venue: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Broadcast: TruTV
Marquette Golden Eagles vs. Syracuse Orange
Betting Lines From BetOnline:
Money Line: Orange -210
Spread: Orange -4.5
Over/Under: 140
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It was only a matter of time before two teams from the Big East clashed in the NCAA national title tournament. After all, with 11 teams entered from what has easily been the deepest conference in the nation this year, there was bound to be at least one conference rivalry game. The Syracuse Orange and Marquette Golden Eagles both flexed their Big East muscles with double-digit victories in their tournament openers, setting up a next chapter in the ongoing rivalry between these teams.
It was the Golden Eagles that got the better of Syracuse in their lone meeting of the regular season, handing the Orange their fourth straight loss in a 76-70 final. Head coach Jim Boeheim’s squad had been undefeated through 18 contests before dropping four straight, and that loss made them the first AP Top-10 to lose that many in a row since 2003-04. Syracuse has come a long way since then as a team, and will be eager to get on the floor and avenge that loss by showing just how much they’ve turned around their season from that point.
It won’t be easy against a Marquette team that blew away the Xavier Musketeers 66-55 in the second round, especially with Jae Crowder around to make life miserable for the Orange interior defense. Crowder scored a game-high 25 points in the Golden Eagles’ 76-70 regular season win, and continues to be the team’s top player in the post.
The Orange will need to find a way to slow him down this weekend, as well as Darius Johnson-Odom, who led Marquette with 19 points in their win over the Musketeers. The Golden Eagles were firing from all cylinders against Xavier, hitting 53.3-percent of their shots. Marquette was just as strong defensively, holding the Musketeers to a shooting percentage that was six-percent less than during the regular season.
There is only so much that one can make out of the Orange’s opening round win, especially considering it was the first meeting between them and the Indiana State Sycamores of the Missouri Valley Conference. Rick Jackson scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed seven boards, helping Syracuse to its seventh win in eight games.
Rarely does a team as good as the Orange lose twice in a season to the same team, and that is just one more factor that will work in Syracuse’s favor for this game.
Trends:
Under is 12-2 in MARQ last 14 vs. Big East.
Over is 11-3 in MARQ last 14 NCAA Tournament games.
Under is 16-5 in MARQ last 21 overall.
Over is 21-8 in SYR last 29 neutral site games.
March Madness Betting Pick: Syracuse Orange
