Hoyas can earn share of Big East title with win at Syracuse

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/26/2007 - Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 12th-ranked Georgetown Hoyas have won their last 11 games, and they will battle the Syracuse Orange today in a key Big East Conference matchup.

On Saturday, Georgetown took over sole possession of first place in the league with a 61-53 decision over Pittsburgh. It has been a month-and-a- half since the Hoyas were last defeated, and they can wrap up at least a share of the Big East regular season title with a victory this evening.

Syracuse reached the 20-win plateau for the 29th time under head coach Jim Boeheim with a 71-67 triumph over Providence on Saturday. The victory was the fourth straight for the Orange, who will close out the regular season against Villanova on Saturday.

Syracuse owns a 41-35 lead in the all-time series with Georgetown, and the teams split a pair of meetings a year ago.

Georgetown managed to fight back from an eight-point deficit to knock off Pittsburgh on Saturday. Jonathan Wallace tallied 17 points for the Hoyas, and Jeff Green added 14 points before fouling out. The third and final double-digit scorer was center Roy Hibbert, as he posted 12 points. An obvious key to the triumph was the 22-8 advantage in points from the foul line GU enjoyed. Also, the Hoyas managed to limit the Panthers to just 32.8 percent shooting from the field, including 7-of-24 from three-point range. Green is netting 13.7 ppg on 52.9 percent shooting from the field, and the versatile forward is also pulling down 5.9 rpg to go along with 98 assists and 30 blocks. Hibbert checks in with 12.7 ppg on 69.7 percent shooting from the floor, and he is also contributing 6.3 rpg and 64 blocks. The Hoyas are limiting their opponents to 57.6 ppg this season on 39 percent shooting from the field.

Syracuse standout Demetris Nichols leads the Big East in scoring with 18.9 ppg on the strength of his 43.2 percent shooting from three-point range. Terrence Roberts continues to be bothered by a knee injury, but he is the leading rebounder for the squad with 7.8 rpg. Like Roberts and Nichols, Darryl Watkins is set to play his final career home game this evening. Watkins ranks seventh nationally with three-and-a-half blocks per game, and he will go down as one of the top shot blockers in program history. Add Eric Devendorf (13.2 ppg) to the mix and it is obvious that there is plenty of talent in the lineup for Syracuse. In the hard-fought victory over Providence last time out, Andy Rautins came through with a career-high 19 points to lead four double-digit scorers for the Orange. Nichols tallied 18 points, and his club limited the Friars to 35.1 percent overall shooting.

Wshockwave NCAA Basketball Betting News

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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