Posted on 2/29/2008 6:26:56 PM

College Basketball Betting - DETROIT at BUTLER

By Charles Jay

BetUS NCAA basketball betting matchup:

The Detroit Titans (7-21 SU, 11-11-2 ATS) seem to be keeping some recent games close. On Saturday they'll be looking to pull off a monumental upset when they visit Indianapolis to play the Butler Bulldogs (26-3 SU, 13-14-1 ATS), the newly-crowned regular season champions of the Horizon League. The game gets underway at 2 PM ET at the Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Here are some of the NCAA basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* DET has lost 19 of its last 22 games SU

* DET has covered six of its last eight games

* BUT has won 10 of its last 11 games SU

* BUT has won 17 of its last 18 home games SU

* BUT has won five of the last six meetings SU

* DET has covered three of the last five meetings

* Five of the last six meetings have gone UNDER the total

* BUT has won the last five meetings SU as the home team

* BUT has had the shooting edge in four of the last six meetings

* DET has had the rebounding edge in five of the last seven meetings

* BUT has made more three-pointers in seven of the last eight meetings

Certainly as a straight-up proposition, this one is no contest. Detroit's backcourt has been ravaged by injury, and shots from the outside are going to be difficult.

You have to hand it to Detroit, as the Titans have been able to keep a lot of these conference games close. They did so again as they faced Valparaiso on Thursday night, in part by holding Valpo to just 33% from beyond the arc. The problem was that Detroit was able to manage just five three-pointers on their part, and that brings us to what might do the Titans in against Butler.

Jon Goode, the Horizon League's leading scorer at 19 ppg, tore an ACL in his left knee in a one-point loss against Wright State, joining the other starting guard, Woody Payne on the sidelines. Brandon Cotton, who was supposed to supply a lot of the offensive punch, left the team before the season started, so interim coach Kevin Mondro is left with a cupboard that is bare.

So they've been bent - will they break against Butler?

The Bulldogs had another non-cover on Thursday night against Wright State, which now brings them to 4-11-1 ATS in the last 16. The oddsmaker has just been pricing them out of control, and we worry about motivation to blow Detroit out less than 48 hours after clinching the Horizon League regular season title (as well as a first-round bye and home court advantage) in the win against Wright State.

So even though Detroit is not especially equipped to close big gaps with long-range shooting, we don't have a lot of confidence in Butler's ability to pull away enough to carry the number. We'll take points with Detroit, the underdog in the BetUS NCAA basketball betting odds.

JAY'S PREDICTION: BUTLER BY 15

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(Charles Jay of http://www.eBookies.com gives it the old college try as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)