15th-ranked Xavier heads to Kingston to battle Rams

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/15/2009 - Kingston, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Xavier Musketeers are widely considered to be the best team in the Atlantic 10 Conference, and they will attempt to avoid an upset at the hands of the Rhode Island Rams this evening.

Xavier is currently riding a four-game win streak that has enabled the team to move to 13-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play. The only two losses suffered by the club this season came against Duke and Butler, a pair of nationally- ranked opponents. The Musketeers are fresh off an 86-60 thrashing of Fordham on Sunday, and they certainly expect a stiffer challenge this evening from Rhode Island, which owns an impressive 11-5 overall record.

The Rams carried a three-game winning streak into Saturday's A-10 opener against Saint Joseph, but the result was a 92-86 triple-overtime loss to the Hawks on the road. Fortunately, URI returns home in hopes of improving its 6-0 record at the Ryan Center.

Xavier owns a 14-3 series lead over Rhode Island, which includes an 81-77 victory over the Rams at the Ryan Center last season.

Xavier is scoring 73.0 ppg this season while limiting opponents to 62.3 ppg on 36.7 percent shooting from the field. Derrick Brown is netting 14.1 ppg, and B.J. Raymond provides 12.1 ppg for the Musketeers. As for C.J. Anderson, he rounds out a trio of double-digit scorers with 10.7 ppg. A strength of this Xavier team is rebounding, as the club is pulling down nearly eight caroms per game more than the opposition. Also, the Musketeers have attempted 151 more free throws than their foes through 15 outings. In the 26-point victory over Fordham on Sunday, Xavier shot 53.8 percent from the field, including a 9- of-17 showing from three-point range. A 45-29 rebounding advantage also helped the cause. All five starters reached double figures in scoring for the Musketeers, and Raymond was tops with 18 points.

Rhode Island is a terrific offensive team, as it is generating 81.9 ppg on 49.2 percent shooting from the floor. The Rams are limiting opponents to 73.4 ppg while outrebounding foes by five boards per contest. Jimmy Baron is the leading scorer for URI, as he is posting 17.3 ppg on the strength of his 44.6 percent shooting from three-point range. Keith Cothran checks in with 14.6 ppg, and Kahiem Seawright provides 14.3 ppg to go along with 6.5 rpg. In the marathon loss to Saint Joseph's, Baron scored 19 points. Seawright posted 17 points, while Cothran added 14 points and six assists. Unfortunately, the Rams connected on only 7-of-22 field goal attempts in the three overtime sessions, and four missed free throws certainly didn't help the cause.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.