Feast Week continues with a loaded Wednesday of college basketball to wager on. Syracuse and Iowa State get things going early in Las Vegas with a 10am PT local tipoff. Let’s breakdown a prediction and pick for the Orange versus the Cyclones.
Syracuse vs. Iowa State prediction, preview (1pm ET)
These teams are each playing their third game in as many days in Las Vegas, and will have to get the energy going early with a 10am PT local tip. Not only do both teams have to get going early after playing a game each of the last two days, but neither is eligible to play for a cash prize, which is a bit of a letdown — especially for a ranked Iowa State squad that’s 2-0 in Vegas, but doesn’t have the point differential to qualify. The way this tournament works, these teams learned of their matchup and the start time of the game less than 12 hours before it’ll tipoff. Not exactly much time to prepare.
This one seems like it could be a sluggish game, with a little more of a motivational edge to the Orange. ‘Cuse pushed Houston to overtime on Monday, and then got to play Kansas on Tuesday. Now Syracuse has another chance to show it can compete with one of the top teams in the country.
Both of these teams defend well, with ISU sitting sixth in defensive rating, and Syracuse ranked 45th. The Cyclones and the Orange have also both played with slower pace this season, ranking 168th and 155th in adjusted tempo, respectively. Take out the points scored in overtime against Houston, and Syracuse totals have landed 134 and 131 in two games in Vegas. While Saint John’s did a good job speeding up Iowa State, the Cyclones controlled the pace on Tuesday against Creighton in a game that saw 138 total points.
It’s also worth mentioning that Iowa State’s four-year starting point guard, Tamin Lipsey, got hurt against SJU. He sat out Tuesday and there’s not much of a reason to play him in this spot. That also hurts the Cyclones on offense. This should be a slow paced game that gets off to a sleepy start. Enough for me to fire on the under.
