Slow tempo. Great defense. High total. These three key ingredients all are here pointing to Under the total. 
Houston is an extremely slow-paced, methodical team ranking among the bottom-25 in tempo. Syracuse has slowed down its tempo during the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. 
The Orange's fabled 2-3 zone is going to cause shooting problems for Houston. The Cougars are not familiar with this defensive style. They are a below average shooting team ranking 194th in field goal percentage. Guard DeJon Jarreau is dealing with a hip pointer. He's Houston's assist leader and No. 3 scorer. 
The Cougars rank No. 1 in the nation in defensive field goal percentage. They also are No. 2 in scoring defense giving up just 57.6 points and rank fourth in defensive 3-point percentage. Sparked by Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse has made 50 percent of its 3-point shots in the NCAA Tournament going 29-for-58. That's unsustainable especially against Houston's elite defense. During the regular season, Syracuse made just 33 percent of its 3-point shots, ranking 213th.