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Bears face tall task in NCAA Tournament clash with MountaineersNCAA Basketball Betting Lines03/19/2010 - Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers are obviously heavily favored in this afternoon's clash with the 15th-seeded Morgan State Bears in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Awaiting the winner of this tilt is a second-round meeting with either seventh-seeded Clemson or 10th-seeded Missouri, fellow East Region participants. Not only did Morgan State win the regular-season crown in the MEAC, the team went on to capture the league's tourney title as well. At 27-9 overall, the Bears are a confident club, led by head coach Todd Bozeman. MEAC teams have recorded two wins over second-seeded squads in former NCAA Tournaments, so there is reason for some hope. Last season, Morgan State made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance as a Division I program, and the result was a 28- point loss to Oklahoma in the first round. West Virginia is making its 23rd appearance in the "Big Dance" and third straight under head coach Bob Huggins. The Mountaineers, who are 27-6 overall, won the Big East Tournament title and had a resume' that was certainly worthy of No. 1 seed consideration, so Huggins didn't attempt to conceal the fact that he was disappointing with the No. 2 seed. The club finished sixth in the final AP Poll, the best finish for the program since placing fifth in 1960. WVU is 20-22 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and is heavily favored in this opener. The Mountaineers beat the Bears by 28 points in the only previous meeting between the programs during the 1995-96 campaign. Morgan State garnered the top four individual awards given annually by the MEAC. Reggie Holmes is the MEAC Player of the Year, while Bozeman is the league's Coach of the Year. DeWayne Jackson is the MEAC Rookie of the Year, and Kevin Thompson is the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Let's start with Holmes, an explosive senior guard who nets 21.8 ppg despite shooting just 39.3 percent from the floor. Thompson is ripping down 11.9 rpg to go along with 50 blocks, and he is scoring 12.8 ppg. As for Jackson, he provides 10.1 ppg on the strength of his 43.9 percent three-point efficiency. The Bears are generating 76.8 ppg while allowing 70.2 ppg to foes. Holmes is a streaky shooter who can completely dominate a game when he gets hot. He closed out the regular season with back-to-back games of 32 and 36 points, but then failed to reach 20 points in any of the three conference tournament games. West Virginia played a couple of tough non-conference games during the regular season, and while the club did fall to Purdue on the road, it managed to knock off Ohio State in Morgantown. The Mountaineers are averaging 73.0 ppg through 33 contests, and they are limiting opponents to 63.8 ppg on 42.4 percent shooting from the floor. Da'Sean Butler is generating 17.4 ppg to pace the team, and the versatile standout has also handed out 109 assists. Kevin Jones, who has started all 33 games alongside Butler, checks in with 13.5 ppg on 51.9 percent shooting from the floor, and he is ripping down 7.1 rpg. The top rebounder on the squad is Devin Ebanks with his 8.2 rpg, and he rounds out the double-digit scorers with 11.8 ppg. WVU is outrebounding foes by 6.8 rpg, key to the team's overall success. Also, the Mountaineers have done a solid job of keeping turnovers to a minimum.
<< Cat Fight in Buffalo, as Missouri takes on Clemson in "Big Dance"
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The seventh-seeded Clemson Tigers and the 10th- seeded Missouri Tigers will do battle this afternoon in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament from HSBC Arena in Buffalo. The winner of this East Regional b
<< Big Red hoping to score upset of Owls in NCAA Tournament
<< Terps open tourney play against Cougars
<< Midwest Regional action pits Cowboys against Yellow Jackets
<< Cardinals and Golden Bears collide in South Region's first round
Oakland seeks upset of Pittsburgh in NCAA Tournament >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Riding an 11-game win streak, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies are in to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history as they confront the Pittsburgh Panthers in first-round action in the West Regional
Orange hope to avoid upset in NCAA Tournament clash with Catamounts >>
Top-seeded Duke opens tourney play against Arkansas-Pine Bluff >>
Upset-minded Saints set sights on Boilermakers >>
Utah State and Texas A&M meet in South Regional action >>
Online Sportsbook Football BettingColts give the ‘D’ its dueThe Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain. They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities. "They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure." Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line. New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest. Not so sound on the ground If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU. Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com “We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star. Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground. Brees says bring it on Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites. Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship. Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game. "I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time." SportsBooks ready for a shootout Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses. “This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.” New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts. The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game. “Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.” |
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