Syracuse (3-0 SU and ATS) vs. (6) North Carolina (4-0, 2-2 ATS)
(at New York)
North Carolina shoots for its 11th consecutive victory overall and fifth in a row to begin this season when it battles Syracuse in the 2K Sports Classic championship game at Madison Square Garden.
The Tar Heels built up a huge lead against Ohio State in Thursday’s semifinal contest and withstood a furious Buckeyes rally, holding on for a 77-73 victory as a two-point favorite. Going back to their 89-72 victory over Michigan State in the national championship game back in April, North Carolina has scored 89, 88, 89, 88 and 77 points in its last five games, while allowing 72 or more in four of those contests. Since losing to Florida State in the semifinals of the ACC tournament last March, the Heels have posted 10 straight wins (8-2 ATS), with the first nine being double-digit blowouts prior to last night.
Since the final game of the 2006-2007 regular season, Roy Williams’ squad is 81-8 SU. And despite losing a ton of talent to the NBA, the defending champs are shooting well over 50 percent from the field through their first four games while holding the opposition to less than 40 percent shooting.
The Orange suffered a stunning preseason loss to Division II Le Moyne three weeks, ago but in games that have counted, Jim Boeheim’s club has posted three straight blowout victories. After crushing Albany (75-43 as a 20-point home favorite) and Robert Morris (100-60 as an 18½-point home chalk), the Orange clobbered 13th-ranked Cal 95-73 in a pick-em contest in Thursday’s other semifinal at The Garden.
Syracuse is on ATS runs of 12-2 overall, 6-1 in non-conference action, 6-2 at neutral sites and 5-0 when coming off a victory over more than 20 points. UNC also possesses nothing but positive pointspread streaks, including 8-2 overall, 38-12 in non-conference play, 7-0 at neutral sites (going back to last year’s NCAA Tournament run) and 7-0 against teams with a winning record.
The Orange are on “over” runs of 8-1 overall, 14-3 at neutral sites and 21-7 after a SU win. Conversely, the under is 5-3 in the Tar Heels’ last eight at neutral sites.
ATS ADVANTAGE: NONE
NCAAB News and Notes Friday, November 20
Information on the best of Friday's college hoop games........
Cornell already has road wins over Alabama, UMass; Big Red has all of its starters back from 21-10 team that won Ivy League LY. Seton Hall is 2-0 after beating Monmouth by 15, St Peter's by 2. Big East are 11-11 vs spread this season. Ivy League teams are 7-4, 2-0 as the favorite.
Providence is 3-0, beating Bucknell by 11, Mercer by 2; now they move up in class to play 1-1 Alabama team that has four starters back from a 18-14 team- they do have new coach, so that can be an adjustment. SEC home favorites are 9-7 against spread. Big East underdogs are 2-0.
Iowa has already lost at home to UT-San Antonio and Duquesne; they lost three starters from team that went 5-13 in Big 11 LY. Could be one long year in Iowa City. Bowling Green lost three starters from a 19-14 team-- they got pounded 101-57 (+17) at Xavier Tuesday night.
St Mary's crushed San Diego State 80-58 Monday, making 13-29 from arc; new Australian recruits look strong. Vanderbilt has an Australian of its own in big man Ogilvy; Commodores are on their way to Hawai'i for Maui Classic Monday- they have all five starters back from 19-12 team.
NC State beat Georgia Southern 69-46 in its opener, getting to line 35 times; Wolfpack lost three starters from LY's 16-14 team. Akron lost at home to Austin Peay 80-77 Sunday (-12.5), blowing 12-point halftime lead. OVC underdogs are 5-6 vs spread, 5-3 on road. ACC faves: 10-2.
George Mason lost by point to Villanova yesterday, after leading by 9 at half; 36 of their 68 points came from subs. Patriots are very young, try to bounce back against Georgia Tech squad that lost 63-59 to Dayton. Tech shot 51% from floor yesterday, but turned ball over 26 times.
Kansas State got to foul line 44 times in 10-point win over Boston U in first round of Puerto Rico tourney. Wildcats are already 3-0. Ole Miss waxed Indiana 89-71 Thursday; they're loaded with guards as result of LY's injury-plagued season. Rebels shot 51% against the Hoosiers.
NC-Wilmington (+11) upset Penn State 80-69 Thursday, as CAA clubs had big day as dogs; Seahawks shot 57% from floor, 10-16 from arc, in a game they led wire-wire. Miami pulled away in second half for a 74-54 win over Tulane. CAA underdogs are now 9-5 against the pointspread.
South Carolina shot 51% in surprisingly easy 10-point win over LaSalle yesterday; Gamecocks have three starters back from 21-10 team that went 10-6 in SEC. South Florida outscored Davidson 22-8 from charity stripe in 65-58 win over Wildcats; they've also beaten Virginia already.
Boston College has four starters back from 22-12 team that went 9-7 in ACC; Eagles beat up on couple stiffs so far. ACC favorites are 10-2 vs spread this month. St Joe's lost top two scorers from LY; they've won couple close games, beating Drexel in OT, Holy Cross by a basket.
Murray State (+13) lost 75-70 at Cal, making half their shots, turning it over 26 times; Racers have three starters back from 19-12 team that was 13-5 in OVC. James Madison lost 72-44 at Ohio State, shooting 31% on night. CAA underdogs are 9-5 against spread this month.
Syracuse whipped shorthanded Cal by 22 last night, shooting 57% with 21 assists on 36 hoops; Orangemen have experienced big guys, and are playing 122nd game in MSG under Boeheim. North Carolina had a huge lead cut to two in last minute last night, hung on to beat OSU 77-73.