Clemson University (23-10), the NIT South Region top-seed, hosts Syracuse (24-10) at 7 p.m. in the NIT quarterfinals at Littlejohn Coliseum on the Clemson University campus. At stake is a trip to New York’s Madison Square Garden for the tournament semifinals on March 27.
The Tigers are currently favored across the board (offshore) by a -3.5-point chalk with a 142 total. In NIT play, Clemson has been fortunate to be the home team in both the first and second rounds of the tournament defeating East Tennessee State (64-57) on March 14th and Ole Miss (89-68) on March 19th. The Tigers covered for backers against the spread as a -5.5 favorite against Ole Miss but fell short ATS as a -16-point home favorite to ETSU. The OVER and UNDER split on the total in the two NIT rounds Clemson played.
For Syracuse, it’s the first road trip in NIT play as it enjoyed a home court advantage by playing its first and second round games at the Carrier Dome. The Orangemen defeated South Alabama straight up 79-73 in round-one but falling short of the -13.5-point cover ATS. Against San Diego State on Monday, the Orangemen routed the San Diego State Aztecs 80-64 and in the process covered the -7.5-points ATS. The OVER and UNDER split on the total in the first two rounds.
The Tigers, began the season in great fashion winning their first 17 games without a loss and were the last team in NCAA Div-1 basketball to lose a game, however Clemson lost nine of its last 13 regular season games and went one-and-out in the ACC Tournament to finish the season on the outside of the NCAA Tournament selection bubble.
After winning its first eight games of the 2006-07 campaign , Syracuse lost three of their next five games to Oklahoma State, Wichita State and Drexel. The losses to WSU and Drexel came on Syracuse’s home court in the Carrier Dome while the Oklahoma State loss was in Madison Square Garden in New York City. The losses to the two mid-majors at home ultimately cost the Orangemen an invite to the NCAA Tournament.
In the win over the Aztecs, Syracuse was led in scoring by Demetrius Nichols with 20 points and Andy Rautins added 15 while Darryl Watkins blocked six Aztec’s shots.
In the Clemson win over Ole Miss, the Tiger’s defense forced 24 turnovers, the most forced by the Tigers since a 26 turnover game over Georgia back in December. Cliff Hammonds and Vernon Hamilton are now in the top six in Clemson history in career steals.
Point-Spreads.com pick: Syracuse +3.5
