NCAA Tournament Second Round: (11) Syracuse (17-9) vs (3) West Virginia (19-9) prediction and college basketball game preview.
Syracuse vs West Virginia Broadcast
Date: Sunday, March 21
Game Time: 5:15 pm ET
Venue: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Network: CBS
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Syracuse vs West Virginia Game Preview
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Why Syracuse Will Win
Can the Orange possibly do that again from three?
San Diego State had one of the best defenses in college basketball, and it didn’t matter. The Orange were bombing away at will, hitting 15 threes in the stunning 78-62 win.
This is a strong shooting team from the outside even when it’s not unconscious, and West Virginia – even though it won 84-67 over Morehead State by pulling away late – allowed ten made threes.
The Orange might have made noice with their offense, but it’s the D that’s still the calling card. It comes up with a ton of blocks and steals, it’s great at forcing mistakes, and held San Diego State to 28% from three and locked down early in a 32-18 first half.
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Why West Virginia Will Win
The Mountaineers can move the ball around as well as anyone. They have the guards, the passing, and the crispness to avoid making a whole slew of mistakes.
They tend to play up or down to the competition, but they always come up with steals, they’re great on the boards and should counteract the normal Orange advantage up front, and they’re going to hit their free throws.
San Diego State only got to the line seven times against Syracuse and made just three of them. West Virginia will get to the line at least 15 times and it’ll hit at least 75%.
And …
What’s Going To Happen
West Virginia is solid at three point D, and it’s not going to buckle in the slightest when and if the Orange hit a few from the outside.
San Diego State was a rock-solid team, too, but it couldn’t come up with the scoring burst needed when everything started going wrong. West Virginia won’t have that problem.
The key for the Mountaineers is hitting 45%.
Syracuse is 10-0 in the last 17 games when holding teams to under 45% from the field, and it’s 0-7 when it doesn’t.
West Virginia made 51% of its shots against Morehead State, but only hit the mark once in the last eight Big 12 games.
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Syracuse vs West Virginia Prediction, Line
Syracuse 74, West Virginia 72
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Line: West Virginia -3.5, o/u: 147
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
Must See Rating: 4
5: Draymond Green’s sub has steak
1: Jayson Tatum’s turkey sub
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