Syracuse Orange at Villanova Wildcats, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Monday, February 21, 2011, 7:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN
Opening Line: Villanova -3.5
Current Line: Villanova -4
Opening Total: 135
Current Total: 135
Money Line: Villanova -175 / Syracuse +155
After earning a pair of tough road wins against inferior opponents without second-leading scorer Corey Stokes, the 15th-ranked Villanova Wildcats (21-6, 9-5) are expected to be without him again on Monday when they host the 17th-ranked Syracuse Orange (22-6, 9-6). The Wildcats (-4) were able to win at Seton Hall and DePaul by a combined five points without Stokes (14.6 points per game) following consecutive losses to Rutgers and #4 Pittsburgh.
Stokes suffered a toe injury in the second half of a shocking 77-76 road loss to the Scarlet Knights on February 9 and has not played since then. Rutgers won the game on a four-point play with one second remaining, and Villanova certainly missed his presence down the stretch. He made 4 of 11 attempts from 3-point range in an 83-72 victory at Syracuse back on January 22 as the Wildcats made a season-high 11 3-pointers.
Corey Fisher stepped up for Villanova in Stokes’ absence on Saturday against the Blue Demons, scoring a career-high 34 points and making 5 of 8 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. Fisher tied the game on a 3-pointer with six seconds left in regulation, and the Wildcats prevailed in overtime. He was the team’s only player to sink a 3-point shot as the rest went 0 for 7.
The Orange were also forced to play overtime on Saturday in an 84-80 home win against Rutgers. They had several big leads throughout the game that evaporated quickly but were eventually able to take advantage of a huge disparity at the free-throw line to avoid another upset bid by the Scarlet Knights. Syracuse made 34 of 47 shots from the charity stripe compared to 9 of 14 for Rutgers.
Kris Joseph led the Orange with a game-high 21 points against the Scarlet Knights while Rick Jackson scored 18 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and Brandon Triche and C.J. Fair added 17 points apiece. Fair has played particular well in the second half of the Big East schedule during his freshman season, averaging 12 points on 62.5 percent shooting from the field in the last four games. He scored just one point in the first meeting with Villanova.
The Wildcats have struggled to cover games since beating Syracuse, going 1-7 against the spread in splitting eight games straight-up. The UNDER is 6-2 in those games and has also cashed in five of the last seven games for the Orange, who have won four of six SU following a season-high four-game losing streak. Villanova has gone 4-1 SU and ATS in the last five meetings with Syracuse, and the OVER has cashed in the past four games between the teams.
Now that you have read this Big East college basketball betting preview featuring Villanova & Syracuse, check out the NCAA basketball odds on this and all the games to compare the best lines at multiple sportsbooks.
