The semifinals of the Big East Tournament takes place tonight and we will see the Syracuse Orangemen take on the Georgetown Hoyas. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 pm (Eastern) start time and will be televised on ESPN. Currently the Odds for the game have Georgetown favored by 1.5 points while the total sits at 116.5.
Analysis: Syracuse limped into the postseason with losses in four of its last five games of the regular season but has posted back-to-back wins against Seton Hall (75-63) and Pittsburgh (62-59) to advance to this round. A win here would give Syracuse its first trip to the conference finals since 2006 when Gerry McNamara carried the then ninth-seed Orange to an improbably conference title. Pittsburgh hung around all game but in the end the Orange's tough defense and hot shooting from beyond the arc proved decisive. The Orange nailed 12 3- pointers as a team, led by James Southerland, who went 6-of-6 from long range to set a Big East Tournament record for most 3-pointers made without a miss. Michael Carter-Williams (12.3 ppg. 7.8 apg, 2.8 spg) really lived up to his Most Improved Player Award against Pittsburgh as the sophomore guard made some big plays down the stretch. The conference's leader in steals scored the Orange's last seven points and collected a crucial theft that really put the game away. Leading scorers C.J. Fair (14.4 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and Brandon Triche (14.0 ppg) also had strong games as they combined to drop in 25 points. Fair has been the most consistent performer for the Orange this season while Triche struggled a bit near the end but has looked back to form in the tourney. The story however has been Southerland (13.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg) who has been phenomenal through the first two rounds, knocking down 12-of-15 shots from 3-point range.
After a double-bye the Hoyas looked plenty refreshed as they eased by Cincinnati, 62-43, in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The win was the 13th in the last 14 games for Georgetown which came roaring back from a 2-3 start in league action to capture its 10th regular-season crown last Saturday. If Georgetown can get a win Friday it has a chance to capture the most conference tournament crowns in league history as the Big East finishes its final season as it is currently configured. Though Big East Player of the Year Otto Porter (16.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg) scored a game-high 18 points in the victory, it was his supporting cast that really stole the show. Markel Starks (12.5 ppg) had 14 points and D'Vauntes Smith- Rivera (9.2 ppg) was electric off the bench with 13 points, while hitting a number of big shots in the second half. Jabril Trawick (5.7 ppg) paced the Hoyas early, scoring all nine of his points in the first 10 minutes. The display put on by the Hoyas on defense was just business as usual as they are allowing just 55.7 points per game on 37.7 percent shooting this season.
Pick: We will go with the Under in this one. This Georgetown defense is playing awesome right now and the Orange have also been playing solid defense as well. These teams combined for 100 and 103 points in the two games this year and this one should be another defensive battle as well. I look for no more than 110 points scored in this one, barring OT.
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