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Re: 12-15-08
Matt Far go
Game: Cleveland State at Syracuse Dec 15 2008 7:00PM
Prediction: Cleveland State
Reason: Syracuse enters this game off a big win against Long Beach St. on Saturday and now turns right around to play a much better opponent and one that matches up very well. Syracuse looks to go 10-0 for the first time in nine years and it is being asked to lay a very sizable number again. The Orange covered that game against the 49ers but they are just 1-3 ATS on the season when laying double-digits as the first three games resulted in victories but only by an average of just six ppg.
Cleveland St. is also coming off a win on Saturday at Marist and it wasn't even close as the Vikings rolled to a 19-point victory. Cleveland St. was voted as the preseason pick to win the Horizon League and it has gotten off to a solid 6-4 start by playing a schedule ranked 65th in the nation. The Vikings feature two of the best players in the conference in forward J'Nathan Bullock, the Horizon Preseason Player of the Year and guard Cedric Jackson, who was voted on the All-Horizon First Team.
The Vikings rely on a strong defense and that has been the case all year as they are allowing 56.4 ppg on 37.1 percent shooting. They have an 84.4 percent defensive efficiency rating which is easily best in their conference and 20th in the nation. Syracuse is right there as well with an 87.5 rating but that has come against a schedule that is ranked 225th so the numbers are no doubt skewed. Cleveland St. forces turnovers on 27.8 percent of possessions which is 9th in the country.
For playing such a soft schedule, Syracuse turns the ball over way too much and it is giving it up on 20.7 percent of its possessions. The assist/turnover ratio is at 1.33 which is good but the defense allows a ratio of 1.27 which is horrible. The Orange are forcing just 12.5 turnovers per game and they are forcing turnovers only 18.7 percent of the time. Those percentages are not going to get it done in the Big East and they aren?t going to aide in trying to cover this huge number. 5* Cleveland St. Vikings
Matt Far go
Game: Cleveland State at Syracuse Dec 15 2008 7:00PM
Prediction: Cleveland State
Reason: Syracuse enters this game off a big win against Long Beach St. on Saturday and now turns right around to play a much better opponent and one that matches up very well. Syracuse looks to go 10-0 for the first time in nine years and it is being asked to lay a very sizable number again. The Orange covered that game against the 49ers but they are just 1-3 ATS on the season when laying double-digits as the first three games resulted in victories but only by an average of just six ppg.
Cleveland St. is also coming off a win on Saturday at Marist and it wasn't even close as the Vikings rolled to a 19-point victory. Cleveland St. was voted as the preseason pick to win the Horizon League and it has gotten off to a solid 6-4 start by playing a schedule ranked 65th in the nation. The Vikings feature two of the best players in the conference in forward J'Nathan Bullock, the Horizon Preseason Player of the Year and guard Cedric Jackson, who was voted on the All-Horizon First Team.
The Vikings rely on a strong defense and that has been the case all year as they are allowing 56.4 ppg on 37.1 percent shooting. They have an 84.4 percent defensive efficiency rating which is easily best in their conference and 20th in the nation. Syracuse is right there as well with an 87.5 rating but that has come against a schedule that is ranked 225th so the numbers are no doubt skewed. Cleveland St. forces turnovers on 27.8 percent of possessions which is 9th in the country.
For playing such a soft schedule, Syracuse turns the ball over way too much and it is giving it up on 20.7 percent of its possessions. The assist/turnover ratio is at 1.33 which is good but the defense allows a ratio of 1.27 which is horrible. The Orange are forcing just 12.5 turnovers per game and they are forcing turnovers only 18.7 percent of the time. Those percentages are not going to get it done in the Big East and they aren?t going to aide in trying to cover this huge number. 5* Cleveland St. Vikings
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