Duke vs Syracuse 3/10/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Syracuse Orange and the Duke Blue Devils meet in college basketball action from Barclays Center on Thursday afternoon.

The Syracuse Orange come into this one looking to add to their 96-57 rout of Florida State in the second round. Buddy Boeheim leads the Orange in scoring with 19.3 PPG along with 3.1 APG (but is suspended for this game after an on-court incident against Florida State) while Joseph Girard III has 13.4 PPG and a team-high 4.2 APG. Jimmy Boeheim’s got 13.3 PPG and 6.1 RPG and Cole Swider has 13.4 PPG with a team-leading 6.6 RPG of his own. Jesse Edwards has 12 PPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Syracuse so far this season. As a team, Syracuse is averaging 76.7 PPG on 45% shooting from the field, 37.5% from three and 73.5% shooting from the foul line while allowing 75.2 PPG on 42.8% shooting from the field and 33.6% from three this season.

The Duke Blue Devils come into the conference tournament as the top-seed and regular season champions after going 26-5 overall and 16-4 in conference play this season. Paolo Banchero leads Duke in scoring and rebounding with 17.1 PPG and 7.7 RPG while Wendell Moore Jr. has 13.1 PPG with 5.5 RPG and 4.6 APG to lead the Blue Devils in assists. Trevor Keels has 12.3 PPG with 3 APG and Mark Williams has 11 PPG and 7.2 RPG this season. AJ Griffin also has 10.3 PPG and 3.7 RPG as well to make up the group of double-digit scorers for Duke so far this season. As a team, Duke is averaging 80.4 PPG on 48.9% shooting from the field, 37.7% from three and 73.1% from the foul line while allowing 66 PPG on 41.3% shooting from the field and 30.2% from three this season.

Syracuse is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 games overall. Duke is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games following a loss and 7-0-1 ATS in their last 8 Thursday games while the under is 6-0 in their last 6 games following a double-digit loss at home.

I get the case to be made for Duke in this spot as no Buddy Boeheim is a real detriment to Syracuse and the task at hand in this one. However, Syracuse has the zone defense that can end up being the great equalizer against opposing teams and while Duke has a #1 seed to play for here, I think Syracuse will be up to the task and can keep this one within the number. Not a game I’m rushing to bet, but give me ‘Cuse and the points here.