No.3 Orange take on Mountaineers at Carrier Dome

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/28/2012 - Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-ranked Syracuse Orange return home to defend their top spot in the conference standings, as they welcome in the West Virginia Mountaineers for a Big East showdown at the Carrier Dome.

Jim Boeheim's Orange suffered their first loss of the season last weekend at Notre Dame, but were able to quickly gain some distance from the setback with a solid 60-53 win at Cincinnati this week. With the victory, Boeheim passed Adolph Rupp for fourth place on the all-time wins list with 877. The win also pushed Syracuse to 8-1 in league play, a full two games up in the conference standings.

Bob Huggins is certainly not stranger to winning games either, with 706 career victories. Huggins was unable to add to his win total earlier this week, as West Virginia saw a three-game win streak come to a close with a humbling 78-62 loss to St. Johns. The loss dropped the Mountaineers to 5-3 in- conference and just 1-4 on the road.

This is the 50th meeting between these two teams, with Syracuse holding a 33-16 edge all-time, thanks to wins in 12 of the last 13 meetings. WVU's last win came in 2008 in the first-ever meeting between Boeheim and Huggins.

West Virginia struggled with St. John's zone defense, shooting a miserable .354 from the floor, including a mere 5-of-22 showing from behind the arc. Standout forward Kevin Jones continued his torrid pace however, posting his sixth straight game with 20 points or more, recording his 14th double-double of the season with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Darryl Bryant tacked on 16 points as well, but the pair got little offensive support elsewhere. A potent one-two punch this season, Jones and Bryant give the team a balanced attack. Jones has been unstoppable in the low post, leading the conference in both scoring (20.9 ppg) and rebounding (11.6 rpg). Bryant fills it up from the perimeter to the tune of 17.4 ppg (sixth in the Big East). Forward Deniz Kilicli (10.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg) provides the team with a third option. Jones and Kilicli are both shooting over 50 percent from the floor this year, helping the team convert a steady 46 percent overall, leading to a healthy 75.0 ppg.

The Orange have lost their inside presence with center Fab Melo missing time due to academics. However, that didn't prevent the team from getting back in the win column this week against the Bearcats. Forward Kris Joseph led the way in the win with 17 points. Guards Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche tacked on 13 and 11 points, respectively. Jardine doled out six assists and had no turnovers in 30 minutes of action. The Orange were able to hold Cincinnati to a mere .344 shooting effort in the game. Syracuse is averaging an impressive 78.0 ppg this season to lead the Big East, despite lacking a prolific scoring threat. Joseph paces the team in that department with 13.7 ppg. Dion Waiters is a valuable asset off the bench with 12.5 ppg, while Triche (9.9 ppg), Jardine (8.5 ppg) and C.J. Fair (8.4 ppg) provide scoring depth. Melo isn't much of a scorer (7.2 ppg), but his defensive presence in the paint is his greatest strength. The 7-0 sophomore is averaging a team-high 5.7 rebounds per game, while he ranks second in the Big East in blocked shots (60).

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Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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