Michigan Wolverines vs Syracuse Orangemen NCAA Basketball Picks

Michigan Wolverines vs Syracuse Orangemen
Friday, 11/26/10, 7:30 PM EDT
Opening Point Spread: Syracuse -6
Current Betting Line: Syracuse -6.5

The Syracuse Orangemen may be 4-0 on the season, but shooting troubles have them ripe for an upset

Michigan enters today’s contest versus the Syracuse Orangemen a perfect 3-0 on the season and the team is anxious to see how it measures up against a quality opponent after beating up on lesser foes early. “It’s going to be really important how we respond – win or lose,” sophomore point guard Darius Morris said. “It’s going to be fun to get a challenge.” He has put together back-to-back games with 10-plus assists and is averaging 8.3 on the season. The Wolverines have also held three-straight opponents under 40 percent shooting from the field. A start like this is nothing new for the program, compiling a 30 mark for the third consecutive season under head coach John Beilein. Michigan is 2-1 ATS against Big East teams the past three years and the NCAA basketball lines page has them as a underdog.

The Wolverines are replacing 69 percent of its scoring and 56 percent of its total minutes played from last year’s team, dropping nine games by seven-or-fewer points. Michigan may start to endure a tough season starting tonight, especially considering it doesn’t have a single senior on its roster. “Right now, we’re so young that we might be too naive to know any better that we’re not supposed to do well,” said junior guard Zack Novak. “We’ve got guys really working hard this whole offseason, especially the freshmen coming in to work on Day 1.” All four of the incoming freshmen are likely to be in the mix all season long.

Syracuse holds a 7-5 advantage in the all-time series with Michigan, with its most recent meeting being a 58-46 Orangemen win in the 1998 Maui Classic. The Orangemen have been very fortunate in picking up recent victories over Detroit and William & Mary, causing head coach Jim Boeheim to call his team the most overrated he’s had in 35 years as a coach. “We’ve got to make shots,” he commented. “The more we have games like this, the more teams are going to play zone against us.” The team is averaging 70.8 points per game and allowing 57.0 during the first four games of the season. Syracuse is 13-4 ATS in all tournament games.

The Orangemen are also searching for players to step up due to losing nearly 40 points of offense from the 2009-10 squad. Syracuse managed to make just 23.1 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc and 58.1 percent from the charity stripe in its two most recent games. Despite the early struggles, the squad does have a pair of players on the Wooden Award watch list. Both Brandon Triche and Kris Joseph are among the initial list of 50 players to make the cut.

Bettors will be interested in knowing that the Wolverines are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games as an underdog, while the Orange are 9-4 ATS as a favorite of 7 to 12.5 points.