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01/28/2012 - Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Doug McDermott finished with a game-high 24 points and pulled down six rebounds as No. 15 Creighton topped Bradley, 73-59, on Saturday.
Gregory Echenique recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Josh Jones contributed 14 points and four assists for the Bluejays (20-2, 10-1 MVC), who extended their winning streak to 10 games.
Dyricus Simms-Edwards paced the Braves (6-17, 1-10) with 19 points and six rebounds, while Taylor Brown donated 16 points and seven rebounds in a losing effort. Bradley has lost four straight games.
Bradley jumped out to a quick 11-5 lead, capped by a Simms-Edwards three- pointer, but the Bluejays quickly responded with a 9-0 run to go ahead, 14-11 with under 12 minutes to play in the opening half.
A trey by Grant Gibbs with 4 1/2 minutes left in the opening 20 minutes put Creighton up 29-19 and a layup by Echenique gave the Bluejays their largest lead of the half at 33-21 with 2:29 left.
Bradley fought back though, closing out the opening half with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 33-28 at the break.
Creighton opened the second half with an 11-4 push, capped by a Jones trey, to open up a 44-32 lead with 14:38 left in regulation.
The Braves again fought back with a 13-4 run to cut the deficit to three with 10 minutes left, but Creighton answered with a quick 8-0 burst to go ahead 56-45 with 8:21 to play.
The Bluejays led by double-digits the rest of the way, and a free throw by Gibbs with 1:35 left put them up 69-54 -- their largest margin of the game -- en route to the easy win.
Game Notes
Creighton owns a narrow 44-41 lead in the all-time series with Bradley, and the Bluejays topped the Braves in the first meeting this season, 92-83, on January 7...Bradley fell to 0-12 this season when allowing at least 70 points...Creighton shot 54 percent from the floor and 8-of-20 from three-point range, while Bradley shot 39 percent from the field and 6-of-17 from beyond the arc...The Bluejays have now won 20 or more games for the 13th time in the last 14 seasons.
<< Baylor routs Kansas
Waco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brittney Griner scored 28 points and added seven
rebounds to help No. 1 Baylor rout Kansas, 74-46.
Kimetria Hayden added 10 points, five boards and four assists and Odyssey Sims
had eight points and six assist
<< Chara breaks his own record, but Team Alfredsson wins
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zdeno Chara's record-breaking blast was part
of the highlights at the NHL SuperSkills competition on Saturday.
Chara was captain of his own team that eventually lost to Team Alfredsson,
21-12.
In the
<< Rockets roll past skidding Knicks
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chase Budinger had 19 points and Goran Dragic
added 16, as the Rockets cruised past the reeling Knicks, 97-84, on Saturday.
Neither team was with its leading scorer. Kevin Martin was out with a foot
injur
<< Virginia holds on to down North Carolina State
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With Sammy Zeglinski and Jontel Evans draped
all over him, Lorenzo Brown's three-pointer at the buzzer from the right wing
fell short and No. 19 Virginia held on and escaped Raleigh with a 61-60 win
over No
UNLV downs Air Force in OT >>
Colorado Springs, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Moser had 27 points and 12
rebounds as No. 12 UNLV won its second consecutive overtime game on the road
with a 65-63 triumph over Air Force.
Oscar Bellfield added 15 points and seven a
Hayward, Miles help Jazz edge Kings >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gordon Hayward scored 21 points, C.J.
Miles had 20 and the Utah Jazz survived a tailor-made three-point attempt by
Jimmer Fredette in the final seconds to beat the Sacramento Kings, 96-93, on
Saturda
Dudley helps Phoenix down Memphis >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jared Dudley hit the deciding free throws with
three seconds left, as the Suns halted a three-game skid with an 86-84 win
over the Grizzlies on Saturday.
Dudley finished with 20 points and Steve Nash ha
Waldow leads No. 21 Saint Mary's over BYU >>
Provo, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Waldow had 19 points and 11 rebounds to help
No. 21 Saint Mary's to an 80-66 win over BYU.
Clint Steindl had 16 points and Rob Jones added 13 points and nine rebounds
for Saint Mary's (21-2, 10-0 WCC), wh
Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds
Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.
The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.
The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.
Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.
MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:
Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)
Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)
Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.
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(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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