No. 25 Xavier downs St. Bonaventure to gain share of A-10 title

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jordan Crawford scored 22 points to lead 25th-ranked Xavier to a 93-72 win over St. Bonaventure in the regular-season finale for both teams at Cintas Center.

Jamel McLean poured in 15 points for the Musketeers (23-7, 14-2 Atlantic 10), who finished with the same record as Temple and captured a share of the league title for a fourth straight year but will enter the upcoming conference tournament as the No. 2 seed due to the Owls holding the tiebreaker.

Jason Love added 14 points, Dante Jackson had 11 points and Terrell Holloway contributed nine points and 10 assists in the victory.

"Making history - there's nothing like it," Love said. "I can't put into words how it feels to win a fourth straight conference title."

Andrew Nicholson led the way with 21 points for the Bonnies (14-15, 7-9), who saw their four-game win streak halted. Chris Matthews netted 14 points while Jonathan Hall posted 11 points and eight rebounds in the loss.

"We had to play an A-plus game and they had to play a C game if we were going to win," St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said.

Xavier scored 16 of the game's first 20 points, with a Mark Lyons bucket from in close capping the early surge with 13:45 to play in the first half.

From that point, Xavier went on a 10-2 run and opened an even bigger advantage. A three-point play by McLean made it 19-6 then Lyons added a layup before consecutive scoring possessions -- the first a jumper by Holloway and the second a three-pointer by Jackson -- gave the hosts a commanding 26-6 lead near the midpoint of the half.

A basket by Hall with 5:46 to go brought the Bonnies within 32-20, and several minutes later, a three-pointer by Matthews cut the SBU deficit even further, to 38-30.

Holloway's jumper gave the Musketeers a 44-32 lead at the break.

In the second half, the hosts were simply too much. Crawford's layup over five minutes into the frame put Xavier ahead by 18, 58-40, before a fastbreak jam by Kenny Frease pushed the lead to 22 points.

Nicholson's dunk with 6:50 on the clock drew the Bonnies within 15, 72-57, but a triple by Crawford over a minute later was the start of six straight points that eventually put Xavier back on top by 20 and the remaining minutes were dedicated to honoring the seniors.

Game Notes

This marked Xavier's 24th straight home win, which is good for the third longest home win streak in the nation...Xavier leads the all-time series, 22-15...The Musketeers have won seven straight games and 11 of their last 12 overall...Xavier has now also captured 32 consecutive home conference contests...SBU has dropped nine straight to Xavier, which won the battle on the glass, 38-30.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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