No. 22 Georgetown vs. No. 3 Syracuse (-6.5) Point Spread Preview

This is the first game of the Big East tournament for Syracuse (28-3, 18-8 ATS). The Orange fell flat in their final game of the season, losing 78-68 at Louisville. Syracuse has been very solid at the sportsbook lately, however; the loss to Louisville ended a four-game winning streak against the spread. 'Cuse is 6-4 in its past 10 games on college basketball odds.

Forward West Johnson leads the Syracuse attack. The junior leads his team in scoring and rebounding at 15.7 PPG and 8.5 RPG, respectively. Johnson is joined by three other forwards-Kris Joseph, Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson-who are averaging double figures this season. Guard Andy Rautins is the team's second-leading scorer at 11.6 points per outing, while also chipping in 4.8 assists per game. Ultimately, they contribute to an attack averaging a very impressive 81.4 points per game. Defensively, the Orange are rock solid at 66.1 points per game.

Georgetown (21-9, 14-12 ATS) collapsed in mid-February, losing four of five games. The Hoyas bounced back with a win over Cincinnati to close out the regular season before handling South Florida 69-49 in their first game of the Big East tourney. Results haven't been there for sportsbook bettors, however, with Georgetown going just 5-5 against the point spread in its last 10 outings.

The Hoyas don't score a ton of points (72.9 per game) like Syracuse but, with three players averaging at least 14 points a game, they can hurt you in a variety of ways. In fact, it was guard Jason Clark-fourth on the team at 10.5 points per game-who paced Georgetown with 16 in the victory over South Florida. Greg Monroe and Chris Wright hit their season averages with 16 and 15 points in the win, respectively. That doesn't even include guard Austin Freeman, who leads the team in scoring at 16.9 points per game. Georgetown is a hair better than Syracuse on "D" by allowing 64.9 per night.

These teams have met twice this season, with Syracuse winning and covering both. In fact, Syracuse has won seven of its past 10 games against Georgetown, although the series is a little closer on college basketball betting odds-the Orange have a 6-4 edge. The total has gone over in four of their past five match ups; BroburySports.com has the total set at 139.

Game Prediction

Take the Orange.