MARCH MADNESS BETTING ODDS — NCAA: SYRACUSE ORANGE VS. HOUSTON COUGARS | FREE COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS
March Madness Betting Odds — NCAA: Syracuse Orange vs. Houston Cougars
Can the Syracuse Orange make another upset and reach the Elite 8 for the first time since 2016? It’s going to be hard against the favored Houston Cougars, but Syracuse already eliminated the San Diego State Aztecs and West Virginia Mountaineers in the previous two rounds.
The Houston Cougars dismantled the Cleveland State Vikings in the opening round but had more problems to beat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the second round. That narrow win is giving a much-needed encouragement to the Orange, who will try to make another shock.
This game is taking place at the Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and starts at 9:55 PM ET. If you are a customer at BetOnline, you’ll have all kinds of wagering possibilities, in addition to the opportunity to continue wagering once the game has tipped off, through the “Live Betting” platform.
Therefore, make sure to check out our basketball picks and predictions and the Syracuse vs. Houston odds.
NCAA Tournament @ Indianapolis
SYRACUSE ORANGE vs. HOUSTON COUGARS, 9:55 PM ET
March Madness Betting Odds: Houston -6 / Total 140
For the second time in this NCAA Tournament, the Syracuse Orange beat the odds and favored team. This time around, they defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers 75-72, thanks to Buddy Boeheim, who scored 22 of his 25 points in the second half to take his father and head coach, Jim, to the 20th Sweet 16 appearance.
The Syracuse basketball team shot over 50% from the field (51.9%) and hit 14 triples opposite West Virginia’s 11, so the fact they were inferior in rebounds (29-41) didn’t hurt the Orange in the end. Alongside Boeheim, who led all the scorers, Joseph Girard III scored 12 points with game-high seven assists and six rebounds, Marek Dolezaj added 12 points with six boards, five dimes, and two steals, while Quincy Guerrier had 12 points, seven rebounds, and game-high five blocks.
The Houston Cougars nearly handed an unpleasant surprise to their fans as they nearly lost to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Houston was in an inferior position for most of the second half, but a three-point play from Tramon Mark gave the Cougars a 61-60 lead with 24 seconds to go. Marcus Sasser made a couple of free-throws to seal the deal and set the final score of 63-60 with nine seconds left. Houston didn’t shoot well from the floor (37.3%) and the stripe (11 of 18) but dominated the boards (39-29) and recorded five more steals than Rutgers (9-4).
Quentin Grimes led the Cougars with 22 points, game-high nine rebounds, and two steals. DeJon Jarreau contributed with 17 points and five boards.
The rebounding will be one of Houston’s primary weapons against Syracuse as the Cougars have the 5th best team in the country in that segment with 41.0 boards per game.
However, the Cougars’ greatest asset is their defense, which is the third-best in college basketball. They are allowing only 57.8 points per contest and are keeping the opponents to the country’s second-best 37.1% from the floor. Also, Houston has a top 10 perimeter defense that is keeping the rivals to 27.8% from downtown.
The Houston basketball team allowed 56 and 60 points to Cleveland State and Ruthers, respectively, in the opening two rounds. Still, we can expect the Orange to score more than 60 here, and the total went Over in 15 of Syracuse’s last 20 games when playing as the underdog. Additionally, the total has gone Over in nine of Houston’s previous 13 games, so backing OVER seems like a very good option.
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