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West Virginia and Kentucky fight for right to move to Final Four

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/27/2010 - Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A berth in the "Final Four" is on the line tonight in Syracuse, New York, as the top-seeded Kentucky Wildcats and the second-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers do battle in the 2010 NCAA Tournament East Regional Final.

The winner of this game will take on either Duke or Baylor next Saturday in Indianapolis.

West Virginia has won its last nine games to improve to 30-6 overall, and its most recent triumph was Thursday's 69-56 decision over Washington. The Mountaineers, who won the Big East Conference Tournament, crushed 15th-seeded Morgan State in the first round of this event before knocking off 10th-seeded Missouri by nine points in the second round. WVU is now 23-22 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Mountaineers finished sixth in the final regular-season AP Poll, their best finish since placing fifth in 1960.

As for Kentucky, it took down "Cinderella" Cornell by a final of 62-45 on Thursday, thanks to one of the best defensive efforts that we have seen by any team in "Sweet 16" action over the last quarter century. The Wildcats are led by first-year head coach John Calipari and are one of only two No. 1 seeds remaining in this tournament (Duke). Three UK starters are freshmen, and while youth can be a detriment, Calipari's squad has been dominant, winning its first and second round games by 29 and 30 points, respectively, prior to the triumph over Cornell. The Wildcats are making their record 50th NCAA Tournament appearance and own a 101-44 record in the event all-time. They are 35-2 overall this season and won both the SEC regular season and tournament titles.

The Wildcats own a 13-4 series advantage over the Mountaineers, which includes seven straight wins over WVU.

Prior to the "Sweet 16" matchup with Washington, West Virginia starting point guard Darryl "Truck" Bryant broke his foot in practice, knocking him out of the tournament. Many wondered how the loss would affect the Mountaineers, and early on the team did struggle at times offensively against the Huskies. Fortunately, WVU played tremendous defense, limiting Washington to 39.3 percent shooting from the floor while forcing 21 turnovers. Rebounding was a huge key to the Mountaineers as well, as they finished with a 49-29 edge on the boards. Kevin Jones led three double-digit scorers with 18 points, and he ripped down eight rebounds as well. Da'Sean Butler added 14 points, and Devin Ebanks finished with a dozen. Butler is the team's leading scorer through 36 games with 17.4 ppg, while Jones (13.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and Ebanks (12.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg) are solid contributors as well. WVU is generating 72.8 ppg while limiting foes to 63.1 ppg.

Kentucky has advanced to the Regional Finals for the 31st time in program history, and there are a few obvious reasons for the 17-point win over Cornell. Above all, it was a sensational defensive effort that saw the Wildcats limit the Big Red to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor, including a 5-of-21 effort from three-point range, 20 percent below the club's average efficiency from behind the arc. Rebounding was also key to the victory, as Kentucky earned a 41-28 edge on the boards. DeMarcus Cousins scored 16 points, while fellow freshman Eric Bledsoe added 12 points. Patrick Patterson ripped down 12 rebounds, and John Wall dished out eight assists. Wall has racked up 236 assists this season, and he has 62 steals as well to go along with 16.6 ppg. Cousins provides 15.1 ppg and 9.9 rpg, while Patterson posts 14.5 ppg. Bledsoe is netting 11.4 ppg for Kentucky, which is scoring 79.6 ppg while permitting just 64.7 ppg on 37.8 percent shooting by opponents.

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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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