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Marquette Golden Eagles at Villanova Wildcats
Wed, Feb 2, 2011, 7pm EST, TV: ESPNU
Opening Line: Villanova -6
Current Total: 151
Money Line: Villanova -265 / Marquette +225
The 12th-ranked Villanova Wildcats (17-4, 5-3 Big East) will try to avoid a three-game losing streak when they host the Marquette Golden Eagles (14-8, 5-4) in a key conference matchup on Wednesday. The Wildcats (-6) are already riding a season-long two-game skid and have dropped three of their last four, which is exactly what Marquette was suffering through before pulling off a 76-70 home win over Syracuse.
Villanova is coming off a 69-66 home loss to Georgetown on Saturday after falling at Providence 83-68 a week ago. Senior guard Corey Stokes has struggled over his last five games since scoring 23 points in an 88-74 win over Louisville on January 12. Stokes is averaging just 9.6 points during that stretch, failing to crack double figures three times after scoring 19 or more in five of his previous six games. He averaged 13 points in three meetings with the Golden Eagles last year.
Corey Fisher and Maalik Wayns led the Wildcats in the loss to the Hoyas with 15 points apiece while nobody on the team could figure out a way to stop Austin Freeman, who scored a game-high 30. Freeman connected on 10 of 19 shots from the field and made all eight of his free throws as Georgetown shots over 52 percent as a team.
Marquette has dropped three straight league games away from home but enjoyed life at the Bradley Center against the Orange on Saturday. The Golden Eagles also shot 52 percent from the field and won despite allowing Syracuse to shoot 57 percent. The big difference in that game came at the charity stripe, where they made 10 more free throws (24) than the Orange attempted (14).
After playing three of four games at home, Marquette begins a tough stretch of three consecutive road games before returning to Milwaukee on February 15. The Golden Eagles are giving up nearly 76 points per game on the road this season on 50 percent shooting from the field. They also average almost seven rebounds per game less away from home.
Still, Marquette is 8-2 against the spread in the last 10 meetings with Villanova even though the teams have split those games straight-up. The Wildcats are 4-1 SU in the past five meetings, but the last four games have all been decided by four points or less. The OVER is 7-1 in the last eight meetings between the teams.
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Syracuse Orange at Connecticut Huskies
Wednesday, Feb 2, 2011, 7pm EST, ESPN
Line: UConn -3
Total: 138.5
The 17th-ranked Syracuse Orange (18-4, 5-4 Big East) have never lost five straight games under head coach Jim Boeheim and will try to avoid that scenario on Wednesday night when they visit the sixth-ranked Connecticut Huskies (17-3, 5-3). The Orange have not dropped five in a row since 1969 due mostly to poor defense while the Huskies (-3) will look to rebound from a 79-78 double-overtime home loss to Louisville on Saturday.
UConn had a six-game winning streak snapped after falling to the Cardinals with leading scorer Kemba
Walker continuing to struggle with his shooting. Walker was coming off a season-low 14 points in a 76-68 victory at Marquette on 5 of 16 shooting and did not fare much better against Louisville, making 7 of 23 shots. In fact, he is shooting just 32 percent from the field (24 of 74) in the last four games since connecting on 10 of 17 in an 82-62 rout of DePaul on January 15.
If Walker is going to break out of his shooting slump, there would seem to be no better team to do it against than Syracuse. The Orange have surrendered an average of nearly 81 points on 51 percent shooting (almost 48 percent from 3-point range) during their current four-game skid. They did manage to shoot the ball much better (57 percent) in a 76-70 loss at Marquette on Saturday but still failed to register a win. In the previous three games, Syracuse shot only 39 percent from the field.
The Orange did make a valiant comeback effort against the Golden Eagles though after giving up a season-high 42 points in the first half. They managed to tie the game late only to have Marquette nail buzzer-beating shots when the shot clock was running down on three different occasions to quell the rally attempt. Leading scorer Kris Joseph scored a team-high 18 points for Syracuse while Scoop Jardine added 13 points and a career-high 13 assists.
Connecticut has won the last seven meetings with the Orange at home, including a 63-49 victory in the most recent game between the teams there in 2009. The epic six-overtime game won by Syracuse 127-117 in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament took place a month later while the latest meeting was also won the Orange last year in the Carrier Dome, 72-67. The Huskies have covered three of the last four meetings with the UNDER going 3-1 in those games. The UNDER is also 5-1 in the last six games overall for UConn while the OVER has cashed in three of the past four overall for Syracuse.
Wed, Feb 2, 2011, 7pm EST, TV: ESPNU
Opening Line: Villanova -6
Current Total: 151
Money Line: Villanova -265 / Marquette +225
The 12th-ranked Villanova Wildcats (17-4, 5-3 Big East) will try to avoid a three-game losing streak when they host the Marquette Golden Eagles (14-8, 5-4) in a key conference matchup on Wednesday. The Wildcats (-6) are already riding a season-long two-game skid and have dropped three of their last four, which is exactly what Marquette was suffering through before pulling off a 76-70 home win over Syracuse.
Villanova is coming off a 69-66 home loss to Georgetown on Saturday after falling at Providence 83-68 a week ago. Senior guard Corey Stokes has struggled over his last five games since scoring 23 points in an 88-74 win over Louisville on January 12. Stokes is averaging just 9.6 points during that stretch, failing to crack double figures three times after scoring 19 or more in five of his previous six games. He averaged 13 points in three meetings with the Golden Eagles last year.
Corey Fisher and Maalik Wayns led the Wildcats in the loss to the Hoyas with 15 points apiece while nobody on the team could figure out a way to stop Austin Freeman, who scored a game-high 30. Freeman connected on 10 of 19 shots from the field and made all eight of his free throws as Georgetown shots over 52 percent as a team.
Marquette has dropped three straight league games away from home but enjoyed life at the Bradley Center against the Orange on Saturday. The Golden Eagles also shot 52 percent from the field and won despite allowing Syracuse to shoot 57 percent. The big difference in that game came at the charity stripe, where they made 10 more free throws (24) than the Orange attempted (14).
After playing three of four games at home, Marquette begins a tough stretch of three consecutive road games before returning to Milwaukee on February 15. The Golden Eagles are giving up nearly 76 points per game on the road this season on 50 percent shooting from the field. They also average almost seven rebounds per game less away from home.
Still, Marquette is 8-2 against the spread in the last 10 meetings with Villanova even though the teams have split those games straight-up. The Wildcats are 4-1 SU in the past five meetings, but the last four games have all been decided by four points or less. The OVER is 7-1 in the last eight meetings between the teams.
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Wednesday, Feb 2, 2011, 7pm EST, ESPN
Line: UConn -3
Total: 138.5
The 17th-ranked Syracuse Orange (18-4, 5-4 Big East) have never lost five straight games under head coach Jim Boeheim and will try to avoid that scenario on Wednesday night when they visit the sixth-ranked Connecticut Huskies (17-3, 5-3). The Orange have not dropped five in a row since 1969 due mostly to poor defense while the Huskies (-3) will look to rebound from a 79-78 double-overtime home loss to Louisville on Saturday.
UConn had a six-game winning streak snapped after falling to the Cardinals with leading scorer Kemba
Walker continuing to struggle with his shooting. Walker was coming off a season-low 14 points in a 76-68 victory at Marquette on 5 of 16 shooting and did not fare much better against Louisville, making 7 of 23 shots. In fact, he is shooting just 32 percent from the field (24 of 74) in the last four games since connecting on 10 of 17 in an 82-62 rout of DePaul on January 15.
If Walker is going to break out of his shooting slump, there would seem to be no better team to do it against than Syracuse. The Orange have surrendered an average of nearly 81 points on 51 percent shooting (almost 48 percent from 3-point range) during their current four-game skid. They did manage to shoot the ball much better (57 percent) in a 76-70 loss at Marquette on Saturday but still failed to register a win. In the previous three games, Syracuse shot only 39 percent from the field.
The Orange did make a valiant comeback effort against the Golden Eagles though after giving up a season-high 42 points in the first half. They managed to tie the game late only to have Marquette nail buzzer-beating shots when the shot clock was running down on three different occasions to quell the rally attempt. Leading scorer Kris Joseph scored a team-high 18 points for Syracuse while Scoop Jardine added 13 points and a career-high 13 assists.
Connecticut has won the last seven meetings with the Orange at home, including a 63-49 victory in the most recent game between the teams there in 2009. The epic six-overtime game won by Syracuse 127-117 in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament took place a month later while the latest meeting was also won the Orange last year in the Carrier Dome, 72-67. The Huskies have covered three of the last four meetings with the UNDER going 3-1 in those games. The UNDER is also 5-1 in the last six games overall for UConn while the OVER has cashed in three of the past four overall for Syracuse.
