College basketball on Sunday afternoon and we will see the Syracuse Orange travel to Tallahassee, Florida to take on the Florida State Seminoles. The game has a start time of 2:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ACC Network. Vegas odds have the Orange listed as 1.5 point favorites, while the total sits at 126.
Stat Pack: The Cuse come in with a 26-4 mark overall, a 13-4 conference record and a 7-2 record on the road. The Orange are struggling, though, as the have won just 1 of their last 5 games. Offense has been a big problem for this team all year as they come in ranked 257th in scoring (68.1 ppg), 195th in shooting overall (43.9%), 206th in 3pt shooting (33.9%) and 180th in FT shooting (69.8%). CJ fair leads the team in both scoring (16.7 ppg) and is 2nd in rebounding (6.7 rpg). Jerami Grant leads the team in rebounding (6.9 rpg) but is listed as questionable for this game. Defense is the name of the game for the Orange as they come in allowing just 59.3 ppg (10th) on 41.2% shooting (70th).
As for Florida State, they come in at 18-11 overall, 9-8 in the ACC and 9-4 at home. The Noles need this win to get themselves off the NCAA Tournament bubble. FSU averages 71.6 ppg (168th) on 46.8% shooting overall (55th) and 37.5% from long range (61st). The offense is led by Aaron Thomas, who has averaged 14.1 ppg on the year so far. Ian Miler is 2nd in scoring (13.6 ppg) while leading the team in assists (81). Okar White is 3rd in scoring (13.1 ppg), while leading the team in rebounding (6.5 rpg). Defensively the Noles are very tough, allowing just 65.7 ppg (65th) on 39.3% shooting overall (17th) and 32.4% from long range (79th).
Pick: I will be going with the Under in this one. The Cuse still have no offense as they have averaged just 58.4 ppg in their last 9 games, scoring no more than 62 points in any of those games. Not sure they can score more than that in this one vs an FSU squad that has allowed just 63.9 ppg on 39.3% shooting on their home floor. The Cuse have lost 4 of their last 5 games and other than a non-existent offense, their defense has let them down as well, as they have allowed 65 ppg in their last 5 games. Now when a team needs a win in the worst way like the Orange do I will look for them to really bring the defensive intensity and the Orange will do just that here. FSU does shoot the 3-ball well, and that is a weakness of the Orange zone defense, but I am counting on Jim B. to come up with a way to use his zone defense and still take away the 3 ball from the Noles. The Cuse will slow the pace here and with a good defensive showing from bith teans we should see this game struggle to hit 120 points.
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College Basketball Free Picks: Syracuse at Florida State Betting
What college Basketball bettors need to know about Syracuse Orange at Florida State Seminoles on Sunday (3/09/14) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Ken Thomson with Chuck Edel.