Duke
vs.
Syracuse
College Basketball Pick
2/14/15
It’s quite convenient for Syracuse to self-impose a postseason ban in one of their worst seasons in recent history. The Orange are still a head above most of the conference, but that could change with little motivation from the players. Duke is on a roll and plans to notch a No. 1 seed by winning out.
since losing at Notre Dame, the Blue Devils have won Four straight with wins at Virginia and beating the Irish by 30 points in a rematch. Their Schedule sets up nicely with only two of their remaining six Games on the road after this one, including a home/away with North Carolina.
Syracuse hasn’t done anything impressive to get to its current record and things are about to get a lot harder for the Orange. Including this Game, five of their last seven Games will be against teams in the Top 10. This is already a team whose best win is against Iowa. They haven’t beaten anyone that’s relevant in the Conference yet, with their best win being at Georgia Tech. Just because this is a home Game, doesn’t give them all that big of an advantage. They’ve struggled against much weaker teams in the Carrier Dome this season.
Using their patented zone, it’s going to be hard for Cuse to get a win against this Duke team. They have a few guys that can shoot, but also one of the best big men in the country in freshman Jahlil Okafor. That’s going to cause problems on both ends of the floor for the Orange. This isn’t a team that scores a whole lot in the first place, and leading scorer Rakeem Christmas is going to have a tough matchup on both ends of the floor. The Orange will count on the play of Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije as usual, but if Christmas can’t dominate the paint, they will be at an immediate disadvantage. Not to mention, this will easily be their toughest matchup since late December (at Villanova).
Duke’s recent run of play has been given a boost from improved defensive play, which isn’t good for Syracuse, who isn’t great on the offensive end. If Okafor can keep Christmas in check, it’s going to fall on Cooney to go off from deep or Gbinije to force the issue.
The Orange will likely be forced to double team Okafor on the block, but in the zone, that should leave Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones with plenty of open looks. They have a number of guys that can get into the lane like Justise Winslow and dish it out to the open man as well.
This isn’t exactly how Christmas envisioned his senior season going, but it’s not like he’s going to give up. How he plays against Okafor could easily decide this Game (and maybe boost his draft rank), although that hasn’t exactly been the case this year because Christmas has played well in almost every Game. Despite 23 points, 12 boards and six blocks at Pittsburgh last weekend, the Orange still lost. Syracuse will need to be more efficient on the offensive end to have a chance in this one.
Our Prediction – Duke by 9