Inside the Loud House
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Syracuse Basketball: Predictions for contest vs. UConn

By Paul A. Esden Jr.

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 05: Christian Vital #1 and Amida Brimah #35 of the Connecticut Huskies battle for control of the ball against Ray Featherston #35 and Tyler Lydon #20 of the Syracuse Orange during the Tire Pros Classic at Madison Square Garden on December 5, 2016 in New York City. Connecticut defeated Syracuse 52-50 (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 05: Christian Vital #1 and Amida Brimah #35 of the Connecticut Huskies battle for control of the ball against Ray Featherston #35 and Tyler Lydon #20 of the Syracuse Orange during the Tire Pros Classic at Madison Square Garden on December 5, 2016 in New York City. Connecticut defeated Syracuse 52-50 (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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Neil Adler (2-0 Prediction Record)

Prediction: Syracuse wins 71-65

The Syracuse basketball squad travels to Madison Square Garden in New York City on Thursday evening, when the Orange does battle with former Big East Conference foe Connecticut as part of the 2K Classic.

SU (2-0), freshly minted at No. 15 in the most-recent AP top-25 poll, took down Morehead State in a surprisingly competitive 84-70 home win last Saturday. The Huskies (2-0), meanwhile, scored a 94-66 victory on their home turf this past Sunday versus Missouri-Kansas City. A few days earlier, on Nov. 8, UConn hosted and defeated the same Morehead State Eagles by a count of 80-70.

Though the 2018-19 campaign is just getting started, the Huskies clearly can put up points in bunches, as they average about 87 per contest. However, the ‘Cuse should have a decisive advantage on defense in its vaunted 2-3 zone, as well as on the glass. Syracuse’s athletic and lengthy players must absolutely crash the boards. At this juncture, the Orange is anointed a 10.5-point favorite by odds-makers in Las Vegas, and ESPN.com’s match-up predictor says that SU has a roughly 80 percent chance of prevailing.

When these two programs duel, though, all of the betting lines mean little to me. Connecticut has a new head coach in Dan Hurley, and the Huskies will surely want to exact revenge on Syracuse, which bested UConn 72-63 a stanza ago. I expect a sea of Orange inside MSG on Thursday night, in a nationally televised affair on ESPN2. This encounter will prove challenging, but, in the end, I think that the ‘Cuse will collect a 71-65 conquest over the Huskies.

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