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College Basketball

ACC Tournament Preview: Syracuse vs. Louisville

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
3 minute read

ACC Tournament: Syracuse vs. Louisville Odds Breakdown

The opening betting lines for this ACC Tournament battle are:

  • Syracuse vs. Louisville: (***)
Odds provided by DraftKings (IN, NJ, PA & WV only)
Odds Subject to Change (T&C's Apply, 21+)

Eye Test

Syracuse comes into this one with a lot of confidence, smashing North Carolina in Wednesday's action. The Orange avenged a 92-79 loss in the Carrier Dome with an 81-53 victory in Greensboro as three-point underdogs. The Orange haven't been terribly consistent this season, but they have been able to score plenty of points. Louisville will be playing its first game of the ACC Tournament after a first-round bye, and they're looking to wash the bad taste out of their mouths after a 57-54 loss at Virginia in the regular-season finale.

It will be a strange scene in the normally raucous Greensboro Coliseum, as the remaining games of the ACC Tournament will be played with no fans due to the coronavirus pandemic. Only family and essential personnel will be on hand in a day which will certainly seem surreal to most sports fans in the United States.

Current Form

The Cardinals limped to the finish line, posting just three victories in their final seven regular-season outings while also going 3-4 ATS during the span. The low-point of their season might have been back-to-back setbacks against Clemson and Georgia Tech from Feb. 12-15, not exactly the cream of the crop in the ACC. During that slide, though, Louisville humbled Syracuse 90-66 at the KFC Yum! Center at home, and that might have been their most impressive win since Feb. 1 when they handled N.C. State 77-57 in Raleigh.

The Orange will be looking for an NIT bid after compiling a record barely above .500 during the regular season. Their season is pockmarked by poor losses, and lopsided setbacks against good teams, but they did post a 63-55 overtime win in Virginia on Jan. 11, a 71-69 win at Virginia Tech and an 84-82 win at Notre Dame. More often than not, however, when the Orange faced a more superior team, they ended up walking away with the L.

Inside the Stats

The Cardinals hit the skids down the stretch, but they were still one of the better shooting teams from behind the arc all season. Louisville hit at a 37.6-percent clip from behind the 3-point line, ranking 18th in the nation. They were also 22nd in the country in offensive rebounds, gathering 36.6 ORB per game. Defensively the Cards are a strong lot, too. They allowed just 63.7 PPG to check in 35th, and they were 14th in the country in defensive field-goal percentage at 38.9. Teams found it hard to get the long-range shots, too, as the Cards held opponents to just 30.1 percent on 3-pointers, 36th in the country.

Score Projections

Louisville averaged 74.1 points per game, while allowing 63.7 PPG. Syracuse checked in with 74.1 PPG, while allowing 69.8 PPG. On the surface, this looks like it should be a rather close game. It won't be.

Lousville 82, Syracuse 67

Free Pick

Syracuse (-?) and Over (?)

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