Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals Betting – Dayton vs. #24 Xavier
by Tim Furious
Xavier fell just three games shy of the Atlantic-10 title, though they tied Temple for the best in-conference record finishing 14-2 SU against conference opponents. To say that they’re getting no love in from the betting public is to say the least. They rank 24th in the AP Top-25, but were left out of the coaches poll. Against Dayton, they’re not getting much respect from the oddsmakers either.
The Musketeers own a polished, seven-game winning streak and will have to keep building momentum as the A-10 Tournament progresses. They’ve been very kind to their betting faithful since late January. In their last 12 games, they’re 9-3 ATS.
Success in the past 12 games didn’t come without some failure before hand, however. The Dayton Flyers crippled Xavier 90-65 in early February as home favorites. In conference play, they’re just 8-8 SU, and they’re doing their best to earn the recognition of the betting community by going 2-3 ATS in their last 5 outings.
Friday, March 12th --- Boardwalk Hall --- 6:30pm EST
: Xavier -3 (134.5)
It also doesn’t help Xavier that Dayton is the team that tossed them from the Atlantic 10 betting tournament last year. I will caution that the win over Xavier earlier this year came with a “kitchen sink” asterix attached to it. Dayton shot 56.4 percent from the field and nearly doubled Xavier’s efforts on the boards.
While it’s easy to say that that game gives Dayton a decisive matchup advantage against Xavier, it’s my understanding that Xavier was coasting up until that game. Since the loss they’ve held opponents to just 40.1 percent shooting, and they’ve managed to compliment their 13th overall offence (79.9 points per game) with a defense that allows just 68.3 points.
Unless Dayton unloads a freighter loaded with luck on Friday evening, they have no hope in stopping the Musketeers. Xavier is a dangerous team when they’re vengeful, and there will be no other state of mind when they take the court to avenge a loss that spurned them in to the dominating team that ended the season with five consecutive victories.
