Florida State Seminoles (11-7) vs. Syracuse Orange (13-5)
January 23, 2024 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Syracuse Orange -4; Over/Under: +148.5
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The Florida State Seminoles and the Syracuse Orange meet Tuesday in college basketball action from JMA Wireless Dome. Florida State lost to Clemson in their last game, snapping a win streak and dropping the Seminoles to 11-7 overall. As for Syracuse, they’re 13-5 this year after a win over Miami on Saturday. Let’s get into our Florida State vs. Syracuse prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Florida State Seminoles
The Seminoles only won four of their first nine games this year. Florida State would then hit a nice 7-1 stretch though, losing to Lipscomb among victories versus North Florida, Winthrop, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Miami. Next came a loss to Clemson, though.
In the Clemson game, the Seminoles had things all knotted up at 30-30 by halftime. Florida State faded from there though, and fell 78-67 after a 48-37 run in the second half. Leading team scorer Jamir Watkins put up 15 points with four rebounds in 29 minutes of work to lead the team.
Syracuse Orange
Over on the Orange’s side, they posted a 5-3 run to start the year, then beat Cornell, Georgetown, Oregon, Niagara and Pittsburgh in the next five. Syracuse is 3-2 in their last five outings with wins over Boston College, Pittsburgh and Miami alongside losses to Duke and North Carolina.
Matched up against Miami back on Saturday, the Orange faced a 31-30 deficit by the break. Syracuse came back with a 42-38 second half and bagged the victory 72-69. JJ Starling was the leading scorer with his 22 points and three rebounds. Judah Mintz added 10 points and 13 assists as well.
ANDREW’S FREE FLORIDA STATE VS SYRACUSE PREDICTION
I’ll stay with Syracuse. The Orange didn’t shoot all that well versus Miami in their last outing (39.7 percent) but also gathered 37 rebounds, 19 team assists and just eight turnovers on the way to the comeback victory. Syracuse has hit 70 points just once in the last five games, so it would be a good sign if they can hit that pace on Tuesday.
As for Florida State, they’ve scored 75 or more points in five of their last seven games so this one’s probably going to be a fairly high-total finish. Syracuse is going to need to hit the gas on offense, but I think they’ve got a cover in them here.
