Struggling Teams Look to Shake the Slumps – WVU at Syracuse

The West Virginia Mountaineers (15-6 SU, 8-10 ATS, 9-9 O/U) and Syracuse Orangemen (17-5 SU, 8-10 ATS, 11-7 O/U) are booth struggling coming into tonight’s matchup, coming off a loss the last time they respectively took the floor.

Tonight, both teams will look to get back in the win column for BetOnline Sportbook NCAA college basketball sports betting enthusiasts everywhere.

The Mountaineers have dropped two of its last three overall, including a disheartening 69-63 loss to Louisville on Saturday. The good new for Mountaineers backers is the fact that they covered the spread as 6.5-point road underdogs in the BetOnline Sportsbook and enter tonight’s matchup riding a two-game ATS winning streak.

While junior forward Da’Sean Butler scored 23 points and senior guard Alex Ruoff added 16 points, the Mountaineers shot a pathetic 35.6 percent for the game in falling behind by 20 points at halftime.

West Virginia is averaging just 67.1 points per game while shooting an uninspiring 40.5 percent from the field over its last eight games.

Syracuse scored a whopping 94 points against the Providence, but still managed to lose after allowing 100 points in not covering the spread as 2-point road underdogs in the BetOnline Sportsbook on Wednesday.

The 20th-ranked Orange have allowed a whopping 74.6 points per game on 43.3 percent shooting in nine Big East games so far. Among the six ranked teams in the conference, Syracuse is the only one allowing more than 68.0 points per game (70.2).

The Orange have allowed three of its last five opponents to shoot at least 53.0 percent from the field and gave up 100 points for the first time in 51 games.

"If we don’t stop anybody and we don’t play better D, we can’t be the team we want to be," said guard Jonny Flynn, who scored a career-best 35 points in the Orange’s third straight loss overall.

This is the fourth straight season the Orange have dropped three straight, but they haven’t lost four in a row since Jan. 16-29, 2006.

Sophomore point guard Jonny Flynn scored a game-high 35 points on 12-for-22 shooting while backcourt mate Eric Devendorf scored a season-high 27 points I his first start in nine games.

Junior center Andy Rautins and senior forward Arinze Onuaku both may sit out tonight’s contest with sprained ankles.

Here is a look at tonight’s key NCAAB trends, followed by my in-depth analysis and NCAAB Free Pick:

West Virginia is 15-6 SU in its last 21 games

West Virginia is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games on the road

West Virginia is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games on the road

West Virginia is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Syracuse

Syracuse is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against West Virginia

Syracuse is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing West Virginia

Syracuse is 12-2 SU in its last 14 games at home

Syracuse is 17-5 SU in its last 22 games

NCAAB Odds

West Virginia +2½ -110

Syracuse -2½ -110

Analysis: While these two teams are fairly evenly matched, I’m going to take the Syracuse Orange to win and cover the spread in this contest mostly because they are playing in the comfy confines of the Carrier Dome, one of the toughest places in all of sport to try and get a road victory.

It’s going to be fairly close too, but I like the Orange to cover by the skin of their teeth.

NCAAB Free Picks: Syracuse -2½ Points