Big East Clash: Notre Dame at Syracuse

Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Syracuse Orange, Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY
Saturday, January 1, 2011, 3:30 pm Eastern, TV: ESPNU
Opening Line: Syracuse -6 1/2
Current Line: Syracuse -7 1/2
Opening Total: 142
Current Total: 143
Money Line: Syracuse -300 / Notre Dame +250

The Syracuse Orange clash with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a Big East battle New Year's Day. Syracuse is a 7 1/2 point favorite at home.

Notre Dame is 12-1 and the #15 team in the country. They just beat #9 Georgetown pretty convincingly 69-55 Wednesday to open Big East play. They have one loss at then #15 Kentucky. Yet, despite these factors they are still almost an 8 point underdog at 5th ranked Syracuse who is 14-0. That is life in the extremely tough Big East. There are 5 teams ranked in the top ten from the Big East and Notre Dame plays three of them to open the Big East slate. They play Connecticut at home Tuesday night in South Bend. Notre Dame has wins over Georgia, California, Wisconsin and Gonzaga on the season. Syracuse beat Providence 81-74 Wednesday to open Big East play. The Orange have victories over Northern Iowa, Michigan, Georgia Tech, NC State, and Michigan St on the season. This is the 42nd meeting between the schools. Syracuse leads the all-time series 23-18. The Orange have won and covered the last two times they played. Syracuse won 84-71 last season at Notre Dame 84-71. Notre Dame is 12-3 ATS when the total is between 140 and 150 points the last 3 seasons. The Irish are 20-7 ATS versus teams with winning records the last 2 seasons. Notre Dame is 10-2 ATS versus teams allowing less than 64 points a game.

Notre Dame is outscoring opponents 80-63 on the season. The Irish are shooting 45.3% from the field and 37.9% from 3 point range. Irish opponents are shooting 39.1% from the field. Senior forward Tim Abromaitis leads the team in scoring with 16.4 ppg and rebounds with 7.2 a game. He also averages 2.3 assists a game. Senior guard Ben Hansbrough leads the team in assists with 3.9 a game and steals with 1 a game. He is also scoring 15.5 ppg and pulls down 3.6 rebounds a game. Hansbrough is deadly from 3 point range shooting 47.8% from beyond the arc. Senior forward Carlton Scott leads the team in blocks with 1.9 a game and also averages 12.1 ppg and 6.8 rpg. Senior forward Tyrone Nash averages 10.5 ppg and 6.3 rpg. The Irish average 41.6 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +9,5. The Irish average 18.3 assists and 10.5 turnovers a game. Notre Dame forces 10.8 turnovers a game. They average 4 steals and 4.1 blocks a game.

Syracuse is outscoring opponents 77-59 on the season. The Orange are shooting 47.8% from the field and 33.5% from 3 point range. The Orange are holding opponents to 37.1% shooting from the field. Syracuse makes 65.9% of their free throws. The Orange are led by a trio of players whose last name starts with the letter J. Junior forward Kris Joseph averages 14.9 ppg, 5.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 steals. Junior point guard Scoop Jardine averages 13.9 ppg, 2.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.9 steals a game. Senior forward Rick Jackson is averaging 13.6 ppg, 12.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.0 blocks a game. One of the three leads the Orange in every statistical category. Syracuse is averaging 40.4 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +6.3. The Orange average 17.7 assists and 11.1 turnovers a game. They force 15.1 turnovers a game on defense. They average 9.5 steals and 6.5 blocks a game.

Both of these teams are excellent rebounders and are also very good defensively. Though both teams can score a lot of points, good defense usually trumps good offense. Syracuse forces turnovers but Notre Dame is good at protecting the ball. I think the Carrier Dome crowd will be the difference and Syracuse will win.