There is something about playing on the big stage at New York's Madison Square Garden that brings out the best in the Syracuse University Orangemen basketball team. After winning in six overtime periods in the quarterfinals over Connecticut, the Orangemen moved to the BIG EAST Tournament championship round by defeating West Virginia in a one-overtime semi-finals game Friday night. On Saturday, sixth-seeded Syracuse will face another tough challenge when they play top-seed Louisville for the BIG EAST Championship. The Cardinals put together a solid second half to defeat Villanova in their semi-finals game on Friday. The BIG EAST Championship game tips-off at 9:05 p.m. ET.
[Check out the $12-Million MARCH MADNESS Bracket Contest at Sportsbook.com, the leader in online gambling.] Sports odds professionals at Sportsbook.com installed Louisville as 7.5-point favorites over Syracuse with a 133 total. The Cardinals are -340 favorites on the Sportsbook.com moneyline while Syracuse backers are getting +280 moneyline odds.
Earl Clark led the way for Syracuse against Villanova by scoring 17 points and Jerry Smith added 16 for Louisville which snapped out of a funk from beyond the arc by hitting 13 3-pointers in winning its ninth straight game.
Junior Eric Devendorf led Syracuse with 23 points, while sophomore Jonny Flynn finished out the night with 15 points and a game-high nine assists. Junior Andy Rautins rounded out the top scorers with 12 points, all from beyond the arc, and senior Kristof Ongenaet led all players with 10 rebounds.
Louisville and Syracuse only faced each other once during the BIG EAST regular season with Louisville winning on the road in the Carrier Dome 67-57. The game was billed a PICK by oddsmakers. In the game, the 114 points scored fell UNDER the posted total.
Sports-Odds Pick: Syracuse is bound to hit the wall soon after all the minutes their legs have been on the court over the past three days. Look for Louisville to outlast the Orange Saturday night. Syracuse will win SU and cover -7.5.
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