Syracuse Orangemen at Louisville Cardinals 2011 NCAA Basketball Preview, Odds, and Predictions: Head basketball coach Jim Boeheim will lead the No. 12 Syracuse Orangemen on the road to the KFC Yum! Center to take on Big East rival head basketball coach Rick Pitino and his No. 16 Louisville Cardinals on Saturday at 12:00 Noon ET on ESPN. Syracuse enters the game off a loss at (20-5, 7-5) a game behind the Cardinals in the Big East who also are coming off a tough loss and come in at (18-6, 7-4) 4th in the conference.
The Cardinals have been battling injuries but have Starters Rakeem Buckles and Gorgui Dieng back for today’s game. “With Rock (Rakeem) and Gorgui, we will certainly be a better defensive team with their presence,” Pitino said. “Syracuse is a powerful basketball team upfront.” The Orange has been struggling since and 18-0 start going just 2 for 7 during that span including a tough loss on Wednesday where they led with 6 minutes remaining at home. “We just came off a very, very good offensive game. We had a bad one tonight,” Jim Boeheim said. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to have a bad one tomorrow.” The odds makers at BetUS have the Louisville Cardinals a -2 point favorite at home against the Syracuse Orangemen.
Syracuse is coming off a 64-56 loss at home to Georgetown where they were outscored 15-3 down the stretch to move to just 7-14 ATS for the season. Forward Kris Joseph led the Orange starters with 14 points a rebound and 2 assists while guard Brandon Triche added 11 points. Forward C.J. Fair came off the bench to chip in 12 points and pull down 4 rebounds in the loss. Syracuse is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Louisville. Vegas odds makers have the Syracuse Orangemen +1800 to win the 2011 NCAA Championship.
The Cardinals are also coming off a tough loss 89-79 on the road to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to move to a still impressive 10-8 ATS for the season. Guard Kyle Kuric led the Cards with 28 points 4 boards and an assist while forward Terrence Jennings added 14 points pulled down 7 boards and dished a dime in the loss. The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Louisville’s last 6 games at home.
I predict a Louisville victory at home!