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College Basketball

Friday’s Tip Sheet

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
5 minute read
Saint Louis (-3, 132) at St. Joseph’s – 7:00 PM EST – ESPN2

These two Atlantic 10 squads meet for the second time this season and both matchups coincidentally were scheduled on a Friday night. In the first go-around last month, Saint Louis (15-8 SU, 8-14-1 ATS) held off St. Joseph’s (10-13 SU, 8-15 ATS) as eight-point home favorites, 68-57 to improve to 9-1 SU and 10-0 ATS in the past 10 matchups since February 2010.

The Billikens capped off a 5-0 start in A-10 play with that victory over St. Joe’s on January 18, but SLU went the wrong way over a two-week stretch by losing four consecutive games. Travis Ford’s team ended that skid in Tuesday’s 73-60 home triumph over Dayton, 73-60 to cash as two-point underdogs. The Billikens jumped out to a 12-point halftime lead, while five players scored in double-figures led by D.J. Foreman’s 18 points.

The Hawks began A-10 action by losing four straight games, including home favorite defeats to George Mason and George Washington. The first conference win for St. Joe’s came in surprising fashion by edging Davidson, 61-60 as 4 ½-point home underdogs on January 15. The Hawks are winless on the road inside the A-10 at 0-5, but Phil Martelli’s club has won three straight at home by a combined seven points.

Kent State at Akron (-4, 133) – 9:00 PM EST – ESPNU

Bowling Green (8-1 MAC) and Buffalo (7-2) are the top two teams in the Eastern division of the Mid-American Conference, as the next two teams in the standings hook up on Friday. Kent State (17-5 SU, 10-9-1 ATS) has lost at home to Bowling Green and Buffalo, but the Golden Flashes enter Friday’s action at 5-1 in the last six games. The Golden Flashes have won two of those games in overtime against Toledo and Ball State, while coming off a 70-67 home triumph over Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday as 4 ½-point favorites.

Akron (13-9 SU, 8-12 ATS) sits one game behind Kent State for third place in the East at 5-4, but the Zips have turned into pointspread poison in MACtion. In nine conference affairs, Akron has compiled a dreadful 1-8 ATS mark with the lone cover coming in last Saturday’s 12-point win at Ohio as a two-point underdog. The Zips have won all four home conference contests, but have failed to cash in those four victories, while riding a seven-game UNDER streak overall.

The Golden Flashes and Zips have yet to hook up this season as the home team won both matchups last season. Akron edged Kent State in the season finale, 67-65, while the UNDER hit for the sixth consecutive time in the series. The Golden Flashes own a solid 4-1-1 ATS record as a road underdog this season, which includes outright victories as a double-digit ‘dog at Vanderbilt and Oregon State.

Ivy League Nuggets

-- The top two teams in the Ivy meet for a showdown in New Haven as Yale hosts Princeton. The Tigers (12-5 SU, 9-6 ATS) look to remain perfect in league play after starting 4-0 for the second time in three seasons. Two of those wins came in overtime against Penn and Cornell, while holding three Ivy opponents to 55 points or less in regulation. The Bulldogs (13-4 SU, 9-7 ATS) have yet to lose a home game this season at 6-0, but only one of those victories came in league action against Brown.

Yale has cashed in all three wins, with the lone blemish coming to rival Harvard in a 16-point road setback. Both matchups between Yale and Princeton reached overtime last season with the home team winning each time.

-- Both Penn and Brown have slumped to 1-3 records in Ivy League action through the first month of league play. The Quakers (13-7 SU, 11-8 ATS) lost a pair of games to Princeton to tip off Ivy play, while finally breaking through the win column in last Saturday’s 72-70 victory at Columbia as 5 ½-point favorites.

The Bears (13-7 SU, 7-8-3 ATS) brought a six-game winning streak into conference play, but lost a home-and-home set to Yale, followed by a two-point triumph at Dartmouth. Brown was blown out the next day at Harvard, 68-47 but the Bears own a terrific 8-1 home mark this season.

-- The bottom four teams in the Ivy own 1-3 records in the league. Penn and Brown meet on Friday, while Columbia (6-12 SU, 7-8-1 ATS) tries to move towards the top half with a win over Harvard (10-7 SU, 8-8 ATS). The Lions have been competitive so far in Ivy action in spite of only one win as Columbia has lost by one point at Cornell and by two to Penn last Saturday. Columbia has covered in four of the last five opportunities as a road underdog, while splitting two meetings with Harvard last season.

The Crimson rebounded from an 18-point loss at Dartmouth to open Ivy play to win three straight games, all at home. Harvard failed to cover in the revenge win over Dartmouth, but the Crimson are coming off a pair of blowouts over Yale and Brown.

-- Dartmouth felt good about itself after blasting Harvard, 81-63 as 6 ½-point home underdogs on January 12. However, three losses later and the Big Green (10-10 SU, 8-7-3 ATS) is searching for answers after falling at home to Brown and Yale last weekend. Dartmouth welcomes in Cornell (10-10 SU, 8-10 ATS), who has alternated wins and losses in a 2-2 Ivy start.

The Big Red split a pair of close games with Columbia, followed by a nine-point triumph over Penn as 6 ½-point underdogs. However, Cornell fell short in overtime to Princeton last Saturday as the Big Red looks to continue its dominance of Dartmouth by winning the last four meetings.

You can reach Kevin Rogers via e-mail at rogers@vegasinsider.com

Kevin Rogers can be followed on Twitter at virogers.

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