Venue/ Stadium: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY
Pitt (11-7) has beaten Syracuse (19-0) in 8 of their last 9 match ups including the last 5 at the Carrier Dome, but the Orange are undefeated and the top-ranked team in the nation while the Panthers are reeling and have lost their first 5 Big East games.
Time/Date: 7:30 PM EST Monday, January 16, 2012
NCAA Odds From: BetOnline
Moneyline: Pitt +900 / Syracuse -1300
Spread (ATS): Syracuse -14.5
Over/Under: 136
Pittsburgh Panthers vs. No. 1 Syracuse Orange Preview
NCAAB lines have Syracuse as big 14.5-point favorites in this conference game with a total of 136.
In their last games Syracuse beat Providence 78-55 while Pitt dropped their 6th straight losing to Marquette 62-57.
This season Pitt is 4-9 ATS with an O/U record of 5-8 and Syracuse is 13-5 ATS with an O/U record of 9-8-1.
In their win over Providence the Orange forced 22 turnovers and held the Friars to only 35.1% shooting. That is not good for a Pitt team that has struggled to hold onto the rock lately and in their loss to Marquette they committed 17 turnovers.
Syracuse is led by F Kris Joseph (13.7 ppg), but the Orange get it done as a team, as even though they rank 13th in the nation in scorers they only have 2 players averaging in double digits. The Orange have a very deep team with 7 players averaging at least 7 ppg so Pitt will have to play good all around D to have any chance to win this game.[soliloquy id=”82219″]
Ashton Gibbs (16.9 ppg) and Nasir Robinson (12.4 ppg) are the 2 leading scorers for the Panthers and were the only 2 that scored in double figures in the loss to Marquette. These guys need to have a good game and they also need some help on offense.
Pitt has a better rebounding team and since they are not a great shooting team they will need to win the battle of the boards. Robinson (6.8 rpg) is the leading rebounder, but he is only 6’5″.
The Panthers may really have their hands full with 7′ C Fab Melo (7 ppg 5.4 rpg), as the Panthers do not have much size inside. 6’9″ F Talib Zanna (5.9 ppg 5.8 rpg) needs to body up on him and not let him get down low for easy buckets or allow him to dominate the glass.
Betting Trends
Pitt is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 road games, 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games overall, and they have an Under record of 5-1 in their last 6 games.
Syracuse is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall, 10-2 ATS in their last 12 games as a home favorite of 13 points or more, and they have an Over record of 7-3 in their last 10 games.
Jason’s Pick: Pitt is reeling, but while I do not think they will win they will slow the pace of this game and, at least, cover the 14.5-point spread.
