The Indiana Hoosiers and Syracuse Orange are set to face off Monday night, going head-to-head at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The nonconference showdown will tip off at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Indiana is a 5.5-point favorite in the neutral site contest one hour away from campus, and the total has been set at 147.5 points. The Hoosiers have -250 moneyline odds, compared to the Orange’s +205 odds. Here is a preview of the Big Ten vs. ACC matchup featuring odds and lines from DraftKings Sportsbook.
Indiana Hoosiers vs. Syracuse Orange Preview
Indiana Preview
Year one under coach Darian DeVries wasn’t anything special, as the Hoosiers won just 18 games and wound up on the wrong side of the bubble come tournament time. Indiana’s first week went about as well as it could have, even if they haven’t faced much of a test yet. The Hoosiers beat Eastern Illinois 91-57 and Bellarmine 92-69 with a brand new roster, as only two of their nine rotation players from last year are back in the fold – forwards Sam Alexis and Trent Sisley, neither of whom are part of the starting five.
Guard Darren Harris, who spent the last two seasons as a reserve at Duke, currently leads Indiana with 15.0 points per game thanks to his 38.5% mark from deep. 7-foot Alabama transfer Aiden Sherrell has also thrived with 10.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks a night, as has Notre Dame transfer and former ACC scoring champion Markus Burton at 10.5 points and 4.5 assists per game. Former Georgia Tech guard Jaeden Mustaf and former SMU center Samet Yigitoglu – who measures in at 7 feet, 2 inches – round out the starting lineup, while Villanova transfer guard Bryce Lindsay and freshman forward Trevor Manhertz are both averaging double figures off the bench.
Thanks in part to their two 7-footers in the starting lineup, the Hoosiers have only had one shot blocked through two games. That is good for No. 2 in the country, all while limiting opponents to the 14th-fewest rebounds per game in Division I. Teams facing Indiana have attempted the 11th-fewest 3-pointers per game, which is likely to change as they start to take on higher-level competition.
In the opponent-adjusted KenPom net efficiency rankings, the Hoosiers sit at No. 46. They rank No. 37 on offense and No. 55 on defense on a per 100 possession basis.
Syracuse Preview
The Orange have gotten off to a 2-0 start under Gerry McNamara, a former Syracuse guard and longtime assistant under Jim Boeheim who spent the last two years as the head coach at Siena. McNamara’s No. 16 seed Saints only lost by six to Duke in the first round this past March, so maybe he can get them back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021. The Orange haven’t finished inside the final AP Top 25 since 2014, either. McNamara almost completely flipped the roster in year one – not counting Calvin Russell III, who is currently suiting up for Syracuse’s football team, the only notable returnees are wing Kiyan Anthony and forward Sadiq White Jr.
The former, who is Carmelo Anthony’s son, is coming off the bench but still ranks second on the team with 15.5 points per game. The latter is averaging 11.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. McNamara brought a few transfers with him from Siena, including guard Gavin Doty and his team-leading 16.0 points per game. Syracuse also scored Appalachian State center Luke Wilson in the portal, and he has turned in 9.0 points and 4.0 boards per game through two contests. Garwey Dual, who spent time at Providence, Seton Hall and McNeese, is the defensive ace of the starting five. Then there’s Slovenian wing Mark Morano, who is averaging 12.5 points per game. Forward Amarri Monroe is filling a bench role at this point, but he did average 16.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game across his last two seasons at Quinnipiac.
Following their 74-58 victory over New Haven and their 102-49 win against Central Connecticut State, Syracuse ranks No. 4 nationally in the Simple Rating System. Based on the KenPom metric, however, the Orange slot in at No. 77 overall with the No. 96 offense and No. 58 defense. Syracuse also averages the third-fewest turnovers per game in the nation.
Indiana vs. Syracuse Pick, Best Bet
Since neither the Hoosiers nor Orange have faced a high major opponent, their respective track records and tendencies are going to be difficult to apply to Monday night’s contest. So many fresh faces further complicate things, even if Syracuse has slightly more continuity on the roster and Indiana has more on the staff. And while metrics like Bart Torvik’s T-Rank take into account projected contributions regardless of where players suited up in the past, that model still only has the Hoosiers projected to win by 5.1 points, so not anything particularly juicy when it comes to the 5.5-point line. Indiana has cleared Monday’s point total in both of their games, while Syracuse has had one game finish above 147.5 and one below.”Indiana starts two 7-footers, while Syracuse starts the 6-foot-10 Wilson.
I just really like Indiana’s length down low in this one – tIndiana starts two 7-footers, while Syracuse starts the 6-foot-10 Wilson. So between two teams that have rebounded well and haven’t gotten a ton of shots blocked, the Hoosiers are in a better spot to assert themselves there. Although it is technically a neutral site contest, it will effectively be a home game for Indiana in terms of travel and fan support. DeVries having a better grasp on his job should also help, since he has been in much bigger moments and this is McNamara’s first real test as a high major head coach. And for what it’s worth, the Hoosiers beat Butler and North Carolina by 28 and 18 in their preseason exhibitions, while the Orange lost by 20 to UConn and only beat Siena by five.
