College basketball betting features a matchup of top-10 teams on Saturday as 9th ranked West Virginia host 5th ranked Syracuse in a game that can be seen on ESPN. The Big East is loaded with excellent teams this college basketball betting season and this NCAA basketball betting matchup should be a good one.
College basketball betting has both teams coming off wins in their last games as West Virginia routed South Florida while Syracuse took care of Rutgers. The Orange didn’t have much trouble on the road at Rutgers as they won 81-65 in NCAA basketball betting. Syracuse got a big game out of Andy Rautins who had 23 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and five steals as college basketball betting stats showed. While the final score looks like a rout in college basketball betting, the Orange let up in the second half after building a 48-25 lead. Rutgers cut the lead to eight before Syracuse woke up and put the game away in college basketball betting. Syracuse is aware that they turned the ball over too many times and didn’t play as well as they could in the second half. “We had 18 turnovers as a team and we have to clean that up before we go to Morgantown,” Rautins said. “It’s always a good thing when you come out with a win at the RAC, it’s a tough place to play and we made plays down the stretch.”
West Virginia had no trouble at South Florida, winning 69-50 in college basketball betting. They should get a better test in this NCAA basketball betting matchup against Syracuse. “We’ve got to make some shots. They’re going to play 2-3 zone,” said West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins. “(Arinze) Onuaku and (Rick) Jackson inside and now with Johnson who is really long – just as big as what our guys are, we’ve got to be able to get the ball into the paint and get it out. We’ve got to have some patience and when we get open looks we have to make them.”
West Virginia is 13-2 overall but they are just 6-8 against the college basketball betting odds. They are only 2-4 versus the college basketball betting line at home. Syracuse is 16-1 overall and a very profitable 10-3 against the NCAA basketball betting line. The Orange are 2-0 against the college basketball betting pointspread in their only true road games of the season. This game at West Virginia will be their toughest road test so far in college basketball betting.