There’s an almost full schedule of games today in the A-10. Temple and St. Joe’s play on Thursday in an ESPN game. Xavier and Dayton have the big game of the night, which has landed on ESPN Classic because of the U.S.-Mexico soccer game on ESPN2. And because the Xavier-Dayton game starts at 6 and the league doesn’t want another broadcast, like the SLU-Charlotte game, going up against it, the Billikens will take the floor at 8 p.m. The broadcast, by the way, is a Mid-Atlantic Sports Network production that Charter is picking up.

Not much from the Charlotte paper on the SLU game. Duke plays North Carolina tonight, so they’re a bit distracted. Enjoy this paragraph.

The biggie is Dayton-Xavier. Xavier coach Sean Miller is understandably concerned about his point guard situation and the team’s many turnovers. Figured by turnovers for possession, Xavier is 13th in the league at .217 turnovers per possession. Dayton is only marginally better at .206.

Meanwhile in Dayton, the Flyers realize a win over the Muskies would help cement their NCAA hopes. Dayton has a tough schedule from here out, with road trips to SLU, Rhode Island and Xavier and home games with Richmond, Temple and Duquesne. And in a story that probably already has the writer’s mail box filling up with angry notes, the Daily News points out the many ways Dayton is a better school than Xavier in everything but basketball.

UMass goes to Fordham, where surprisingly they are 1-4 since 2007. If they go to 1-5, the Minutemen are in big trouble. Anyway, there’s apparently a feeling the UMass bench is playing better.

The toughest game is always the one after a big win, so Duquesne has to be careful going into Richmond, especially since it has lost 11 in a row to the Spiders. I’m generally leery of streaks like that since the turnover rate is so high in college basketball, and especially for a school like Duquesne, which seems to have an entirely new roster every year. Richmond is floundering, with four straight losses, and some of their guards played an awful lot against SLU on Sunday. This is one of those games that will really separate teams in the league. If Duquesne wins, it goes to 7-3 and is in strong shape for a first-round bye. If Richmond loses, it falls to 3-6 and will be setting up shop at the bottom of the league standings. (Though it does have Charlotte twice, Fordham and GW still on the schedule.)

Finally, Rhode Island coach Jim Baron goes into the St. Bonaventure Hall of Fame on Saturday (he played and coached there), but tonight, he has to beat them. His son, Jimmy, hurt his back over the weekend. Rhody will be in trouble without him.