NCAA Basketball Spreads – Syracuse Orange vs. Seton Hall Pirates

Syracuse Orange (12-0 SU, 5-2 ATS) at Seton Hall Pirates (9-2 SU, 2-3 ATS)

Tuesday, December 29 – 9 PM ET

NCAA Basketball Spread: SYRACUSE -3

Here are some of the NCAA basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• SYR has won its last 12 games SU
• SYR has won and covered six of its last eight road games
• SYR has played six of its last seven road games OVER the total
• SH has won nine of its last 11 games SU
• SH has covered eight of its last ten home games

Also….

• SYR has covered four of the last five meetings
• SYR has won nine of the last 11 meetings SU
• SYR has covered four of the last six meetings as the road team
• SYR has won five of the last seven meetings SU as the road team

When you talk about an undefeated record on the part of Syracuse, which is now rated fifth in both major polls, you probably have to put an asterisk next to it because the Orange lost to LeMoyne State in an "exhibition" at the start of the season. We can only guess that defeat made them angry, because they cut through the opposition like a terror. two of the early wins were very significant, as they blew out high-flying California by a 95-73 score, then came back the next night in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden and beat North Carolina by 16.

Four days after that they beat defending Ivy League champ Cornell by 15, and since then they’ve scored a significant win over Florida, which was nationally ranked. They’ve earned their stripes, covering five of seven in the NCAA basketball spread.

Syracuse -3 vs Seton Hall >> Join to Bet Now

Seton Hall, like Syracuse, is one of the highest scoring teams in the nation, averaging 88.1 points a game. They aspire to be a Big East contender and like, Syracuse, they have a double-digit win over Cornell on their ledger. They also scored a resounding win over VMI on December 12, chalking up 134 points and hitting TWENTY three-point shots.

The Pirates don’t lack for offense or defense (allowing 37.6% shooting), they take care of the ball better than Syracuse (11.6 turnovers a game) and they managed to stay in Saturday’s game all the way against sixth-ranked West Virginia, covering the spread despite shooting just 38% from the field.

The main guy for the Hall is Jeremy Hazell, who leads the team with 21.9 points a game and throws up a lot of threes, although not as many drop as he’d like to (30%). Jamel Jackson (47% threes), who comes off the bench, is much more of a dead-eye out of the backcourt. Syracuse, however, shoots 55% as a team, and has four players who are not only averaging in double figures but also shoot 60% or better.

They are nine-deep, come at the opponent in droves, and force a lot of miscues (averaging 13.4 steals, which leads the nation). They may be in the midst of a difficult transition after the departure of Jonny Flynn, but they still have more assists than anyone in the country as well (22.7 per game).

Syracuse has already demonstrated that it can play with teams like Cal and North Carolina who really like to push the pace and still come out dominant. Seton Hall, on the other hand, has been competitive but really hasn’t passed a big test yet. As long as the price is reasonable, we don’t mind being on the side of the more proven commodity, and will lay the points with the ‘Cuse, the three-point favorite in the college basketball odds.

JAY’S PLAY: SYRACUSE -3 ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)