The Oregon Ducks and the Syracuse Orange meet Sunday in college basketball action from Sanford Pentagon. Oregon is riding a three-game win streak, most recently taking out Cal Baptist to move to 7-2 overall. As for Syracuse, they’re 7-3 on the year after a win versus Georgetown last weekend. Let’s get into our Oregon vs. Syracuse prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Oregon Ducks
The Ducks won their first four outings of the season, taking out Georgia, Montana, Tennessee State and Florida A&M. After consecutive losses to Santa Clara and Alabama, Oregon beat Michigan and UTEP in the next pair. In the win over the Miners 71-49, the Ducks posted 54.5 percent shooting from the field.
In their last matchup versus California Baptist, the Ducks held a modest 36-31 edge at the break. Oregon bagged a 40-24 run from there and took the win 76-55. Leading the scoring was Kario Oquendo with 20 points and one block off the bench. Jackson Shelstad added 17 points with eight assists as well.
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Syracuse Orange
Over on the Syracuse side, they lost three of their first nine games this year to Tennessee, Gonzaga and Virginia. Otherwise the Orange took out New Hampshire, Canisius, Colgate, Chaminade, LSU and Cornell in that stretch. Syracuse finished with 45 rebounds and 16 team assists in their victory over the Big Red.
Matched up against Georgetown in their last outing, the Orange were only up 35-34 going into the second half. Syracuse came alive with 45 more points from there however and won 80-68. Judah Mintz was the team’s top scorer with 25 points and five steals. JJ Starling chipped in 21 points.
ANDREW’S FREE OREGON VS SYRACUSE PREDICTION
I’ll probably lean toward Oregon. This one’s pretty close, though. The Ducks had a bit of a slow start versus Cal Baptist in their last outing, but ended up shooting a nice 51.9 percent from the field with 34 rebounds. Oregon has now posted 71 or more points in five straight games, and 71 or more points in eight of nine games this year.
As for Syracuse, they’ve understandably posted some dud scoring outings in their three losses this season, but otherwise the Orange have hit 79 or more points in all seven wins. I like this one to be a high-scoring affair on both sides with Oregon eking out the cover in the end.