Syracuse Orange vs Florida State Seminoles Prediction, 1/4/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Syracuse Orange vs Florida State Seminoles

Date: Saturday, January 4, 2025

Location: Tucker Center in Tallahassee, FL

TV: ESPN+

Tucker Center is where the Florida State Seminoles (9-4) will take on the Syracuse Orange (6-7) on Saturday.

The Syracuse Orange stepped onto the hardwood against Wake Forest and ended up losing by a score of 81-71 in their last contest. When talking about personal fouls, the Orange ended up with 23 and Wake Forest finished the game with 24 personal fouls. They also made 9 out of their 19 tries from three-point range. Wake Forest finished the game shooting 76.9% from the charity stripe by making 20 of 26 shots. Furthermore, Wake Forest collected 31 boards (8 offensive, 23 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Wake Forest doled out 13 dimes and had 11 steals for the game. Pertaining to defense, Syracuse allowed their opponent to shoot 43.3% from the floor on 26 out of 60 shooting. They also dished out 8 dimes for this game while forcing the other team into 10 turnovers and having 5 steals. Concerning getting rebounds, they collected 38 with 13 of them being of the offensive variety. At the free throw line, the Orange knocked down 24 of their 32 shots for a percentage of 75.0%. Syracuse finished the contest with a 37.5% field goal percentage (21 of 56) and knocked down 5 out of their 22 3-point attempts.

Jaquan Carlos is someone who was a factor in this contest. He recorded 16 points on 5 of 9 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 34 minutes and also totaled 4 rebounds. He went 55.6% from the field and totaled 4 assists.

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Syracuse will play this contest with a win-loss mark of 6-7 so far this year. They are averaging 76.8 pts per game (149th in college hoops) while hitting 45.9% from the floor. The Orange are connecting on 28.5% on shots from 3-point land (69 of 242) and 69.9% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Syracuse is grabbing 38.8 rebounds per game and has accumulated 188 dimes so far this season, which is 198th in college in terms of passing. They are giving up possession 12.5 times per game and as a squad are committing 15.7 fouls every game.

On the defensive end, the Orange are forcing 10.5 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 19.8 fouls. They are giving up 34.0% from 3-point land and they are 331st in college in opponents PPG (78.9). The Orange defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 45.4% (369 of 813) and they relinquish 33.9 boards per game as a group. They are 271st in college in giving up assists to the opposition with 193 conceded on the campaign.

The last time they took the hardwood, the Florida State Seminoles took a defeat with a final score of 90-76 when they played Louisville. In relation to attacking the glass, Florida State permitted Louisville to collect 24 in total (3 on the offensive glass). They finished shooting 51.7% from beyond the arc by shooting 15 out of 29 and walked away from this one shooting 19 out of 23 from the free throw line (82.6%). The Seminoles permitted Louisville to bury 28 out of 55 attempts from the field which had them shooting 50.9% in this matchup. When the game finished, the Seminoles ended up going 29 for 55 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 52.7%. With respect to shooting from 3-point land, Florida State converted 8 of their 20 tries (40.0%). They were able to bury 10 of the free throw tries for a rate of 71.4%. Louisville committed 14 fouls for this game which took the Seminoles to the charity stripe for 14 shots. They turned the ball over 9 times, while earning 4 steals in the matchup. The Seminoles were able to corral 15 defensive boards and 2 offensive boards totaling 17 for the matchup.

Jamir Watkins was important for the Seminoles for the game. He converted 9 out of 15 in the game giving him a rate of 60.0%, and accumulated 3 rebounds. He tallied 25 points in his 35 mins on the court and earned 3 assists in the game.

Florida State has a mark of 9-4 for the year. As an offense, the Seminoles are shooting 46.6% from the floor, which is 117th in D-1. Florida State has tallied 1,017 points this season (78.2 per game) and they average 34.6 boards per game. They are getting an assist 13.8 times per game (208th in the country) and they are turning it over 13.2 times per contest. The Seminoles are committing 20.3 personal fouls every game while shooting 70.8% from the charity stripe.

The Florida State defense allows 28.7% on shots from 3-point land (97 of 338) and their opponents are connecting on 70.8% of their foul shots. They surrender 10.8 assists and 34.8 rebounds per contest, which is ranked 47th and 203rd in those defensive categories. The Seminoles on the defensive side of the court are 127th in the nation in points per game surrendered with 69.2. They have forced 15.8 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 39.9% from the floor (51st in college hoops).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Syracuse

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