Posted on
3/6/2008 1:31:04 PM
NCAA Basketball Betting - Xavier vs. St. Joseph's
By Charles Jay
BetUS NCAA basketball betting odds: XAVIER -3, Total 141
The Xavier Musketeers (25-4 SU, 12-12-1 ATS) have proven themselves to be the class of the Atlantic 10 Conference this year. On Thursday night in Philadelphia they will take to the court against a team that feels it has something to prove - the St. Joseph's Hawks (17-10 SU, 15-10 ATS) in A-10 action that may have a bearing on the NCAA tournament field, and slated to start at 9 PM ET at the Alumni Fieldhouse on the St. Joe's campus.
In the BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds, Xavier is listed as a three-point road favorite, with a total of 141 points.
Here are some of the NCAA college basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* XAV has won its last 11 games SU
* XAV is 3-5 ATS in its last eight games
* XAV has played four of its last five games UNDER the total
* XAV has won its last six road games SU
* XAV is 4-4 ATS in its last eight road games
* STJ has lost five of its last seven games SU
* STJ has covered one of its last four games
* STJ has played 10 of its last 14 games UNDER the total
* STJ has lost three of its last four home games SU
* STJ has played six of its last seven home games UNDER the total
* XAV has won four of the last six meetings SU
* STJ has covered six of the last eight meetings
* Four of the last six meetings have gone UNDER the total
* XAV has had the shooting edge in four of the last six meetings
* STJ has had the rebounding edge in five of the last six meetings
It's hard to say that St. Joe's will get itself so sky-high for this game, simply because the Hawks might really need it to bolster credentials for the NCAA tournament. After all, they had an opportunity to pick up a couple of easy victories at home to bring them closer to the 20-win mark, and blew it against both Saint Louis and Temple.
Xavier has been on a nice roll, winning eleven straight games, but there may be a couple of factors that shift things in St. Joe's favor here. One is that Xavier's incentive level is relatively low, since it has already skated to the A-10 regular season crown.
Another is that St. Joseph's does have a tendency to play this opponent tough, covering the last three meetings and six of the last eight. In the last encounter, St. Joe's blew a lead in the final minutes and went down to 76-72 defeat. The Hawks can also look forward to a Xavier team that may not be at full strength, as point guard Drew Lavender, who is dealing with an ankle injury, has only 22 points over his last five games.
In what is a "do-or-die" situation - again - for St. Joe's, we'll take the Hawks and the three points in the BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds.
JAY'S PLAY: ST. JOSEPH'S
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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)