Virginia Tech vs. Syracuse: NCAA basketball picks

The venerable old building hosts the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament on Wednesday night, and the Syracuse Orange should feel right at home on the MSG floor when they meet the Virginia Tech Hokies.  ESPN2 will televise the doubleheader starting with the Oklahoma State, Stanford matchup at 7 PM (ET).  Syracuse and Va Tech are slated to begin around 9:30 PM. 

NCAA basketball odds opened with the Orange favored by seven and the total at 135.5.  The spread quickly jumped to Syracuse -8 Tuesday evening. 

Syracuse heads into this tourney embroiled in the sexual molestation allegations involving longtime assistant coach Bernie Fine.  There might be some Orange players who hoped that getting away from campus to play a basketball tournament would prove a nice respite.  Of course, Jim Boeheim's team is landing smack-dab in the middle of the media frenzy capital of the world, and the Orange can count on Big Apple writers to treat the issue with the same restraint as a school of piranhas greeting a young calf that ventures too far into the river. 

Boeheim remains steadfast in Fine's corner, as do several former Syracuse players.  And why not? The timing of these allegations, some of which reportedly took place more than 30 years ago, is suspicious to say the least on the heels of a recent and similar controversy at Penn State. 

If nothing else, at least Boeheim and many of his players are in familiar surroundings with Syracuse ready to play its 157th contest at MSG.  The Orange are 67-43 in The Garden under Boeheim, including 3-1 in the building last season, the only loss a 76-71 overtime defeat in the Big East Tournament to eventual national champs UConn. 

No. 5 in the country in both polls, the Orange have been in complete control in rolling to a 4-0 mark, beating the spread in all three of the games with college basketball betting lines.  Those three ATS wins came as chalk in the 22-24 point range.  Seth Greenberg and the Hokies figure to be a little tougher competition than the likes of Fordham, Manhattan, Albany and Colgate. 

That soft early schedule has allowed Boeheim to rotate 10 players into action for at least 12 minutes each game.  Nineteen different players saw floor time in the most recent 92-47 win over Colgate, none of the starters playing more than 20. 

It's also a group that has played together a while, with the only big loss from last year's squad being Rick Jackson.  Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph top the returnees, along with Fab Melo, Brandon Triche, Dion Waiters and James Southerland. 

Greenberg and Va Tech, on the other hand, are trying to make up for the loss of several key players from last year's 22-12 team that fell to Wichita State in the second round of the NIT.  The biggest subtraction was Malcolm Delaney and his multifaceted game that included a team-high 18.7 points per game. 

Senior Dorenzo Hudson, who missed most of the 2010-11 campaign following foot surgery, has picked up the scoring slack in place of Delaney.  Hudson's 19.3 scoring average leads a team that is 12th in the country with an impressive 51.3% field goal percentage, even if it did come against East Tennessee State, Monmouth and Florida International. 

One of the most intriguing players for the Hokies thus far is true freshman Dorian Finney-Smith, the brother of former Old Dominion standout Ben Finney.  A wiry 6-8 frame and nicknamed 'Dodo,' the versatile Finney-Smith has posted solid all-around stats with 8.3 points, 11 boards and 4.3 assists per game, and getting plenty of experience by averaging nearly 31 minutes per night. 

It's been a while since the two schools met on the hardwood, nearly eight years to be more precise.  The Orange have won the last three meetings to gain a 3-2 edge in the all-time series that dates to 1976. 

Taking a Chance: Virginia Tech's hot start on the shooting front will get a stern test against an experienced Orange playing Boeheim's famed 2-3 zone.  I like what Greenberg has going with the Hokies, who were a little underrated before the season started and remain underrated now.  Still, I suspect this will be a 'grow-up game' for Va Tech.  Syracuse takes it, 75-65.