Posted on
3/12/2008 7:45:58 PM
NCAA Basketball Gambling - RHODE ISLAND vs. CHARLOTTE
By Charles Jay
BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds: RHODE ISLAND -1.5, Total 148
The Rhode Island Rams (21-10 SU, 13-14-2 ATS), seeing its NCAA at-large hopes slip away, desperately need to win this game on Wednesday night, as they take on the Charlotte 49ers (18-12 SU, 17-10 ATS) in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Scheduled tip-off is 9 PM ET.
In the BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds, Rhode Island is listed as a 1.5-point favorite, with a total of 148 points.
Here are some of the NCAA basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* URI has lost six of its last seven games SU
* URI has covered one of its last eight games
* URI has played six of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHAR has won and covered four of its last five games
* CHAR has played four of its last six games OVER the total
* CHAR has won four of the last six meetings SU
* URI has covered three of the last four meetings
* CHAR has had the shooting edge in three of the last four meetings
Charlotte had a poor season shooting the basketball, there's no getting around it. And there is certainly no guarantee that the Forty-Niners, despite having won four of their last five games, will be any more consistent. But the Niners are producing points, and making some of their shots count (33 three-pointers in the last three games). Leemire Goldwire was the major antagonist as Charlotte traveled to East Kingston and beat URI by 10 points in the regular season finale.
In that game, both teams were relatively cold, shooting under 40% for the game; it's just that the Rams were worse. But Rhode Island, which won 14 of its first 15 games, is still almost defenseless these days, having given up 86 points a game over the last seven. That means continued bad news as they try to construct a defensive game plan to deal with Goldwire, who is Charlotte's scoring leader.
The problem, however, is that Rhode Island was most likely overrated coming into the A-10 season. Only a couple of wins they posted were against teams that could even be considered borderline NCAA tourney candidates, so in a sense, the late-season collapse didn't come as a complete shocker to many, though a 17-point loss to George Washington (who didn't qualify for this tournament) was a particularly low moment.
We don't expect much to change from four days ago, so we're going to take the points with Charlotte, the 1.5-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds.
JAY'S PLAY: CHARLOTTE
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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)