Syracuse vs. Louisville Odds, Picks | College Basketball Betting Guide (Tuesday, Jan. 3)

Syracuse vs. Louisville Odds

Tuesday, Jan. 3

7 p.m. ET

ESPNU

Syracuse Odds
Spread	Total	Moneyline
-9.5 -110	136.5 -110o / -110u	-450

Louisville Odds
Spread	Total	Moneyline
+9.5 -110	136.5 -110o / -110u	+340

Odds via FanDuel. Get up-to-the-minute college basketball odds here.

Syracuse begins a two-game road trip on Tuesday night when it takes on the Louisville Cardinals. The Orange will look to move to 3-1 in conference play after taking down Boston College by 14 points on New Year's Eve.

Louisville is still in search of its first conference win of the season. The Cardinals most recently stepped outside of conference play to face in-state rival Kentucky and lost by 23.

Syracuse's biggest struggles have come from its lack of rebounding, but Louisville has been almost as bad. Can the Orange take advantage of the Cardinals' struggles around the rim and keep them winless in conference?

Syracuse Orange

The Orange have had some struggles to start the season, dropping games to Colgate, Bryant and Pittsburgh in a close one at home. But there is plenty of talent for this Syracuse team to be contenders in the ACC.

Joseph Girard, Judah Mintz and Jesse Edwards are all averaging double figures, and of late Benny Williams has emerged as an elite scorer as well for the Orange.

Williams went off against Boston College for 16 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. His ability to be a difference maker at both ends of the floor is massive for the Orange, if he can continue to do so moving forward.

Syracuse is averaging 75.6 points per game with a majority of its shots coming from in paint. The Orange average 36.6 points per game in the paint and have been shooting even better as of late, hitting 44.7% of their shots in the paint over the last five.

Finding success on the interior against Louisville should be no problem. The Cardinals have been one of the worst teams in the nation allowing opposing teams to hit 76.5% at the rim and 46.6% in the paint.

On defense, Syracuse has been the second-best team in the ACC in steals, averaging 8 per game. The Orange should be able to take advantage of a Cardinals team that is one of the worst in college basketball giving up 16.6 turnovers per game.

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Louisville Cardinals

There's no need to breakdown each and every statistic in which Louisville ranks outside the top 300. I know Louisville is bad, you know Louisville is bad, everyone who keeps up with college basketball at a minimal level knows the the Cardinals are bad.

However, I had some degree of hope for them against Kentucky due largely to the fact that they had been shooting better from beyond 3-point range of late. They proceeded to take just 13 3-point attempts and hit only two.

If they can avoid turning the ball over against Syracuse, their biggest focus should be driving to the basket. Syracuse has been great on the season when it comes to defending the interior, but over their last five games the Orange have allowed teams to hit 69.2% at the rim, a massive downgrade from the 59.3% they have allowed overall on the year.

Louisville has also benefited greatly from getting to the line at a consistent rate. The Cardinals average 19.4 free throw attempts per game, and 14.3 made 3-pointers per contest. They likely won't have that luxury against a Syracuse team that is giving up just 14.7 free throw attempts per game.

Syracuse vs. Louisville Betting Pick

The Orange haven't been great so far this year, but Louisville has been so bad it's tough to back them the Cardinals in any situation.

I think Syracuse will all but shut down the Cardinals at rim and give them serious fits when it comes to turnovers. Back the Orange as high as 10-point favorites over the Cardinals.

Pick: Syracuse -10 or Better

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