Bonnies seek A-10 tourney upset of top-seeded Owls

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The two-time defending Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Champions, the 17th-ranked Temple Owls, hit the floor at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City this afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 34th annual event versus the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure.

Top-seeded Temple is trying to become just the second school in A-10 history to string together three straight conference tournament titles, second only to UMass which ran off five in a row in the 1990s. The Owls have run off a seven- game win streak and part of that was the team's 73-55 rout of the Bonnies in New York back in February.

Temple has won more games (49) in this tournament over the years and has the most crowns (eight) than any other program. When taking part in the quarterfinals, the Owls have won all but two of their 26 matchups. As the top seed in the tourney, Temple has a record of 10-1, winning the championship three times.

As for the Bonnies, this year's eighth seed, they took care of ninth-seeded Duquesne in the first round on Tuesday night at home in the Reilly Center. Unfortunately, St. Bonaventure has had very little success in the event, posting a 13-26 record and failing to bring home a trophy to this point.

In terms of the all-time series between these two schools, not only has Temple won both meetings during the A-10 Tournament previously, the Owls hold a commanding 50-6 mark after capturing the regular-season meeting last month.

The winner of this matchup will be back on the hardwood tomorrow versus the winner of the Rhode Island/Saint Louis battle in the semifinals.

Andrew Nicholson is the focal point of the offense for the Bonnies with his 16.5 ppg, stemming from 58 percent shooting from the field and 76 percent accuracy at the free-throw line. In addition, Nicholson also leads the group on the glass with better than seven boards per game, although that still doesn't make up for the fact that he has but 14 assists this entire season. Jonathan Hall picks up the slack in the passing department with his 100 dishes over 27 games, adding in another 13.1 ppg and almost six rebounds per contest to make himself into a complete player. Chris Matthews checks in with 12.7 ppg, thanks in large part to his 98-of-251 effort out on the perimeter. Against the Dukes earlier this week, Matthews erupted for a game-high 28 points on 6-of-8 shooting behind the three-point line, followed by Nicholson with 25 points and seven rebounds and Hall who recorded 10 points, seven boards and five assists.

Head coach Fran Dunphy has put himself in the running for national coach of the year honors by stressing defense with the Owls this season. As a result, Temple has limited opponents to just 56.8 ppg, one of the best marks in all of college basketball. Those foes have converted only 38.1 percent from the field and a feeble 27.8 percent behind the three-point line. At the offensive end of the floor, Ryan Brooks heads the list of scorers with his 14.5 ppg, thanks in large part to being only one of two players to have started every game this season. Juan Fernandez (12.2 ppg) has stepped up to become a true perimeter threat with his 44.7 percent accuracy and at the same time has kept defenses on their heels by handing out a team-best 105 assists as well. Lavoy Allen is the one who does the dirty work in the paint with his 11.7 points and team- best 10.8 rpg, helping to provide the Owls with a rebounding advantage of nearly five per game.

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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.