VCU at Massachusetts
By David Schwab
VegasInsider.com
The Atlantic 10 Conference will be in the spotlight this Friday night in men’s college basketball when the VCU Rams look to bounce back from a tough loss when they square off against the Massachusetts Minutemen. The rest of Friday’s lineup is littered with a few intriguing contests in some of the other mid-major conferences.
VCU Rams vs. Massachusetts Minutemen
VCU is currently in second place in the Atlantic 10 with a straight-up record of 8-3, but its regular season title hopes took a major hit in last Saturday’s 64-62 loss to No. 10 St. Louis as a 5½-point road underdog. The Rams are currently three games in back of the Billikens, who are now a perfect 11-0 SU in conference play.
The loss was actually the Rams second in their last three games after dropping a 69-62 decision to St. Joes 69-62 on Feb. 8 as three-point road favorites. They are still a profitable 6-2 against the spread in their last eight games and the total has stayed UNDER in three of their last four contests. Overall, VCU is 20-6 SU with an even 12-12 mark ATS. It is 4-2 ATS in its last six road games and the total has gone OVER in three of its last five games on the road.
Head coach Shaka Smart has gained a reputation over the past few years for getting the most out of his team when the chips are on the line. The loss to the Billikens was a huge setback, but you know he will have his squad ready to go on Friday night. The Rams are averaging 75.9 points and shooting just 42 percent from the field, but they have remained solid on defense by holding teams to 65.9 points a game. Treveon Graham leads the team in scoring with 15.7 points per game and he is second in both rebounds (6.9) and assists (1.9).
The Minutemen are 4-4 SU in their last eight conference games after jumping out to a 3-0 start in the A-10. They are 20-5 SU overall on the strength of a solid 12-1 record in nonconference play. UMass has covered in three of its last for games including a 67-61 road victory over George Washington this past Saturday as a five-point underdog.
Massachusetts comes into this game with a 4-6-1 record ATS in conference play and on the year it is 15-10 ATS. It has won 10 of 11 home games this season SU, but it has only covered in five of those contests. The total has stayed UNDER in seven of its 11 games at home; however it has gone OVER in three of its last four outings overall.
With Chaz Williams leading the way with 15.4 PPG, the Minutemen have a slight advantage in scoring with an average of 77 points and they are a betting shooting team than the Rams with a field goal percentage of 47.3 percent. The concern has to be on the other end of the court with a defense that is allowing an average of 70.1 PPG, which has actually ballooned to 73 points in its last six games.
The one thing that UMass does very well is control the boards with 38.8 rebounds while holding its opponents to an average of 31.6 rebounds a game. Cady Lalanne has led the way in this department with 8.6 rebounds and he is second on the team in scoring with 12.8 PPG.
The Minutemen have been opened as slight one-point home favorites over VCU in this conference clash.
The Rams came over to the A-10 last season from the CAA and promptly swept UMass both SU and ATS as solid favorites in each contest.
Bonus Games
Iona Gaels vs. Rider Broncs
The Gaels continue their quest for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season title in the first of two meetings against Rider in the next nine days. They have a two-game lead over Manhattan in the standings with a 14-2 SU record in the conference and they are 17-8 SU overall. Iona has won its last nine games SU and it comes in as an early four-point road favorite for this contest. The Broncs are 13-12 SU overall with a 9-7 record in the MAAC. They are just 2-5-1 ATS in their last eight games and the total has gone OVER in their last two games.
The Gaels have won seven of the last nine meetings in this series, but the two split last season’s series SU with Rider covering in both games. The total has stayed UNDER in the last six meetings.
Detroit Titans vs. Wright State Raiders
Detroit has strung together four SU victories in its last six games to improve to 6-7 SU in Horizon League. The Titans began their conference schedule with a 58-53 win over Wright State as two-point home favorites, but the road team in this series is still 5-2 SU in the last seven meetings. The Raiders come into this matchup with 7-6 SU record in conference play and they are 6-2 ATS in their last eight outings.
In this series, Detroit has a 6-2 edge both SU and ATS in the previous eight meetings, but the last four games have been evenly split 2-2 both ways. The total has stayed UNDER in five of the last six games. Wright State has been opened as a seven point home favorite this time around.
College Basketball Information
VCU beat UMass twice LY, by 9-18 points in its first season in A-13; Rams lost last two road games by 7-2 points, scoring 62 points in both games, losing two of last three after an 11-1 run. UMass won three of last four games but lost at home to George Mason. Average total in two series games LY was 143.5. A-13 home teams are 10-13 vs spread in games where spread was 3 or less points.
Detroit (-2) beat Wright State 58-53 at home Jan 4, outscoring Raiders 20-11 on line in game they trailed by 6 with 9:24 left. Titans won six of last eight series games, winning last three visits here by 10-16-7 points. Detroit won three of last four games, all of which were decided by six or less points, with two going OT. Horizon home favorites of more than 5 points are 15-10 vs spread. Raiders lost four of their last six games.
Dartmouth (+7.5) upset Princeton 78-69 at home Feb 1, ending 8-game series skid in game where Tigers took 30 3's, only 21 2's. Big Green lost last four visits here by 28-15-12-5 points. Ivy League double digit home favorites are 3-5 vs spread. Princeton is 2-5 in Ivy, splitting two home games. Dartmouth lost its last four games, three by 10+ points- they're 0-3 on Ivy road, losing by 16-3-10 points.
Brown (+1) beat Columbia 64-56 at home Feb 1, its fourth win in row vs Lions; Bruins trailed by 5 with 10:13 left. Brown lost four of last five visits here, winning by 3 LY. Bruins are 5-3 in Ivy, 1-2 on road, losing at Harvard/Yale by 7 each, winning 13 at Dartmouth. Columbia lost four of last six games but is 2-1 at home, with only loss to Harvard in double OT,. Ivy League home favorites of 7 or less points are 5-1 vs spread.
Harvard made 12-20 from arc, hammered Penn 80-50 Feb 1, its 8th win in last ten series games; Crimson won four of last five visits here, with all four wins by 6 or less points. Ivy League home underdogs are 7-3 vs spread. Harvard is 3-0 on Ivy road, winning by 30-4-23 points- they're tied for lead in Ivy with six games left. Quakers are 3-0 at home in Ivy; home team won all seven of their conference games.
Yale won last six games, is tied for Ivy lead and doesn't play Saturday; they play at Columbia Sunday. Bulldogs (-17) beat Cornell 61-57 Feb 1, as Big Red took early 13-3 lead, but Yale had 18 offensive rebounds and held on. Ivy League home underdogs are 7-3 vs spread. Yale won three of last four series games, but hasn't swept Cornell since '04. Cornell lost two of three Ivy home games, with losses by 16-23 points.
Last three Oakland games were decided by 3 or less points; four of their last seven were decided by exacrtly one point. Grizzlies (-10) beat UIC 76-75 at home Jan 25, forcing 22 turnovers (+15). Horizon home teams are 6-23 vs spread in games where spread was 5 or less points. Oakland lost six of last nine games, with all three wins by a point UIC lost last 16 games, is 0-13 in Horizon but its last two losses were by 3-6 points.
Iona won its last nine games, seven by 8+ points; Gaels won seven of last nine games with Rider, winning three of last four visits here, winning by 20-4-13 points. MAAC home underdogs of 5 or less points are 4-10 vs spread. Rider lost three of last four games, losing last two at home to Marist/Manhattan by 7-17 points. Gaels won last five road games, four by 8+ points- they're making 41.2% of their 3's in MAAC play. .
Home teams won last seven Manhattan-Siena games; Jaspers lost last seven regular season visits to Albany, and also lost to Saints in five of last seven MAAC tourneys, but Manhattan won last six games overall, with five wins by 11+ points. Siena lost four of last five games, with a couple OT losses and a 1-point loss at Marist. MAAC home underdogs of 5 or less points are 4-10 against the spread.
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