Posted at 10:00 AM EST. Odds are subject to change.

Syracuse +5½ -105 over Indiana

6:30 PM EST. Let's start with what neutral actually means here. Indiana has played both of its games inside Assembly Hall, and tonight the Hoosiers leave home for the first time all season while the market still prices Syracuse like a true road underdog, pushing this from Indiana -4½ at open out to -5½. Syracuse is built for a floor like this, because Gerry McNamara's team does not lean on one scorer or one set. The Orange have put up 88 points a game through two outings, shot 51.7 percent from the field, and in the 102-49 beating of Central Connecticut State they had ten different players score, four in double figures, 20 assists against just 8 turnovers, and a 54-24 edge in the paint with a 14-3 edge on the break. That is wave after wave of fresh legs and easy buckets, and waves are how you cash as a dog in a one possession game.

The engine is balance with teeth. Gavin Doty, who followed McNamara from Siena, leads Syracuse at 16 points and 9 rebounds a game while shooting 62.5 percent, and he opened the season with a 14 point, 13 rebound double double against New Haven, a game Syracuse started on an 18-0 run. Kiyan Anthony gives them 15.5 points a night off the bench, freshman Mark Morano has already hit 7 of his 17 threes, and Ryan Moesch is dealing 6 assists a game. Behind them, Sadiq White is averaging 11 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks, and 6 foot 10 centre Luke Wilson, the Sun Belt defensive player of the year last season with 59 blocks at Appalachian State, protects the rim so the long Syracuse wings can press up and gamble. The Orange are holding teams to 53.5 points a game, 38.3 percent shooting and 25.6 percent from three, and they just outrebounded Central Connecticut 45-20.

That defense lands on the exact soft spot Indiana has shown. Teams have shot 49 percent against the Hoosiers through two games, Bellarmine shot 48 percent on Thursday and actually won the second half 43-42, and Darian DeVries said himself after that game that his team's second half defensive intensity has not been up to standard in either outing. A deep, long Syracuse team that runs ten bodies at you, crashes the glass behind Doty and White, and scores in transition is the worst possible matchup for a favourite that relaxes after halftime, because the Orange keep coming in the exact minutes where Indiana has been leaking points. Expect Syracuse pressure to turn this into a grind of contested jumpers at one end and second chances at the other, with the Orange right there the whole game and a real shot to win it outright. 

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