Syracuse students agree: No couches should be burned. Ever.I'm going to sound pretty unprofessional right now, but honestly no one has any idea how this one is going to turn out. My good friend who is a WVU alum and hosts a sports talk radio program has no idea how this one will turn out. I bet Jim Boeheim doesn't either. Syracuse has beaten West Virginia the last ten of 11 times, including twice last season. The second was in overtime during the Big East Tournament after the 6-OT game against UConn. However the Mountaineers are undefeated at home. They also play a stingy defense and when holding opponents to under 50% shooting from the floor they are 11-0. WVU has a quality pair of players in both SF Devin Ebanks (12.5ppg, 8.33rpg) and SG De'Sean Butler (15.9ppg, 6.4rpg). Additionally PF Kevin Jones (15.3ppg, 7.8rpg) is surprisingly effective in the post. The key to this game will be defense and rebounding. Of course scoring is imperative and if Syracuse can get a good start in the first half and get a lead at the half before WVU's defense really rolls in the second half their chances of winning will be great. But really you have to rebound and cause turnovers to find success. Syracuse's ten point scoring edge on the season is erased on the road, so grinding out a tough game by finding ways to score and being stingy in the zone is the only way to pull this major road test off. I do think Syracuse will win this game, but by a slim margin. Look for SU to win this game over WVU by seven.
Labels: Basketball, Big East, Preview
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