Odds Favor Hoyas
Washington, D.C. – With eight wins in the last 10 meetings, Syracuse has gotten the best of Big East rival Georgetown over the past six seasons.
But with an average margin of victory of just 6.5 points during this stretch, the Orange have been anything but dominant against the Hoyas.
Oddsmakers from Online Sportsbook Sportsbook.com have made the Georgetown –6.5 point spread favorites for Wednesday’s game against the Syracuse. Current College Basketball Public Betting Information shows that 80% of more than 135 bets for this game have been placed on the Syracuse +6.5.
No. 8 Syracuse (16-1, 4-0) goes for its eighth straight win overall on Wednesday night at the Verizon Center as it completes its first set of back-to-back road games this season. The Orange are coming off an 82-66 win over Rutgers on Saturday as sophomore guard Jonny Flynn sparked the team with 10 second-half points.
"At halftime Coach (Boeheim) told me to take over the game and I did,” said Flynn, who just missed a triple-double with 15 points, nine assists and a career-high seven rebounds.
Last season against Georgetown, Flynn averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 assists and 3.0 boards as the teams split two meetings – each winning on its home floor. In Syracuse’s 64-62 overtime loss to the then-No. 9 Hoyas on Jan. 21, Flynn had a team-best 24 points on a career-high 23 field goal attempts.
Three of the last nine meetings between these teams have gone to overtime.
Flynn, averaging a team-high 16.4 points and 5.5 assists this season, had no turnovers in 40 minutes against the Scarlet Knights.
"(Flynn) made some really good plays, some great passes, great decisions and no turnovers," said Boeheim, who on Wednesday will move past legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp into sole possession of 14th place all-time in Division I games coached with 1,067.
A victory over the Hoyas would pull Boeheim into a tie with Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun for seventh all-time in Div. I coaching wins with 788. Calhoun’s No. 4 Huskies next play at St. John’s on Thursday night.
Paul Harris hit 11-of-13 from the field and scored a season-high 26 points on Saturday while fellow junior Arinze Onuaku made 8-of-9 and matched a season best with 19 points. Onuaku is second in the nation in field goal percentage at 70.7. Syracuse, which shot a season-high 61.1 percent from the field against Rutgers, is hitting 50.7 percent this season – fifth in the nation.
No. 13 Georgetown, meanwhile, is ranked eighth in the nation in field goal defense, holding teams to 36.7 percent. In the Hoyas’ 82-75 win over Providence on Saturday, they held the visiting Friars to 42.2 percent from the floor as they snapped their two-game skid.
With leading scorer DaJuan Summers on the bench with four fouls, freshman center Greg Monroe led Georgetown (11-3, 2-2) on a 21-2 second-half run. Monroe finished with 13 points, and season-highs with 11 rebounds, eight assists and five steals. He was named Big East Rookie of the Week for the second straight time on Monday. It was his third such award this season.
"Putting the ball in (Monroe’s) hands makes life easier on everyone else, and I think our guys realize that,” said Georgetown coach John Thompson III, 2-4 against Syracuse.
In the teams’ last meeting on Feb. 16, Summers had 14 points and six rebounds before fouling out in the then-No. 8 Hoyas’ 77-70 loss to Syracuse.
The Orange lead the all-time series against Georgetown 43-36, but the Hoyas have won two in a row at home against Syracuse.
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Posted: 1/13/09 3:36AM ET
