Pitt (11-7) has beaten Syracuse (19-0) in 8 of their last 9 match ups including the last 5 at the Carrier Dome, but the Orange are undefeated and the top-ranked team in the nation while the Panthers are reeling and have lost their first 5 Big East games. <\/p>\n
Time\/Date: 7:30 PM EST Monday, January 16, 2012 Pittsburgh Panthers vs. No. 1 Syracuse Orange Preview<\/strong><\/p>\n NCAAB lines have Syracuse as big 14.5-point favorites in this conference game with a total of 136.<\/p>\n In their last games Syracuse beat Providence 78-55 while Pitt dropped their 6th straight losing to Marquette 62-57.<\/p>\n This season Pitt is 4-9 ATS with an O\/U record of 5-8 and Syracuse is 13-5 ATS with an O\/U record of 9-8-1.<\/p>\n In their win over Providence the Orange forced 22 turnovers and held the Friars to only 35.1% shooting. That is not good for a Pitt team that has struggled to hold onto the rock lately and in their loss to Marquette they committed 17 turnovers.<\/p>\n Syracuse is led by F Kris Josep<\/strong>h (13.7 ppg), but the Orange get it done as a team, as even though they rank 13th in the nation in scorers they only have 2 players averaging in double digits. The Orange have a very deep team with 7 players averaging at least 7 ppg so Pitt will have to play good all around D to have any chance to win this game.[soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n Ashton Gibbs<\/strong> (16.9 ppg) and Nasir Robinson<\/strong> (12.4 ppg) are the 2 leading scorers for the Panthers and were the only 2 that scored in double figures in the loss to Marquette. These guys need to have a good game and they also need some help on offense.<\/p>\n Pitt has a better rebounding team and since they are not a great shooting team they will need to win the battle of the boards. Robinson (6.8 rpg) is the leading rebounder, but he is only 6’5″.<\/p>\n The Panthers may really have their hands full with 7′ C Fab Melo<\/strong> (7 ppg 5.4 rpg), as the Panthers do not have much size inside. 6’9″ F Talib Zanna<\/strong> (5.9 ppg 5.8 rpg) needs to body up on him and not let him get down low for easy buckets or allow him to dominate the glass.<\/p>\n Betting Trends<\/strong><\/p>\n Pitt is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 road games, 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games overall, and they have an Under record of 5-1 in their last 6 games.<\/p>\n Syracuse is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall, 10-2 ATS in their last 12 games as a home favorite of 13 points or more, and they have an Over record of 7-3 in their last 10 games.<\/p>\n
\nNCAA Odds From: BetOnline
\nMoneyline: Pitt +900 \/ Syracuse -1300
\nSpread (ATS): Syracuse -14.5
\nOver\/Under: 136<\/strong><\/p>\n