Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Recaps

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ricky Harris scored a game-high 24 points as he led the Massachusetts Minutemen to a 59-56 win over the Charlotte 49ers in the first round of the 34th annual Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament.

Harris finished the night shooting 5-of-13 from the field and 11-of-12 at the free-throw line for 11th-seeded UMass (12-19).

The sixth-seeded 49ers (19-12) were paced by An'Juan Wilderness who tallied 11 points, followed by Ian Andersen with 10 off the bench. Derrio Green and Dijuan Harris combined to make just 3-of-15 shots from the field and missed all nine chances beyond the arc in the setback.

The Minutemen shot a mere 31.3 percent from the field in the first half, yet the squad led by as many as seven points in the period and held a 31-29 advantage at the break.

In the second half UMass again had trouble finding the mark from the floor, converting a woeful 33.3 percent and 1-of-11 behind the three-point line, but with 13-of-16 shooting at the free-throw line the visitors were able to secure the three-point win.

The difference in the game came at the charity stripe where Charlotte, which made just 5-of-26 beyond the arc, was outscored 18-5.

With the victory the Minutemen move on to the quarterfinal round on Friday and will face off against the third-seeded Richmond Spiders in Atlantic City.

Final Score: St. Bonaventure 83, Duquesne 71

St. Bonaventure, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Matthews converted 6-of-8 behind the three-point line and finished with a game-high 28 points as he led St. Bonaventure to an 83-71 win over the Duquesne Dukes in the first round of the 34th annual Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament.

Also scoring in double figures for the eighth-seeded Bonnies (15-15) were Andrew Nicholson and Jonathan Hall with 25 and 10 points, respectively, with each clearing seven rebounds as well.

The ninth-seeded Dukes (16-15) were paced by Damian Saunders who registered a double-double with 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in the losing cause. B.J. Monteiro contributed 13 points and five boards off the bench and Jason Duty accounted for 11 points.

Duquesne suffered just 1-of-12 shooting behind the three-point line in the first half, taking the squad down to 40.6 percent from the floor overall, en route to a 34-30 deficit at the break.

In the second half the Bonnies not only made 53.8 percent from the floor, but also 6-of-8 beyond the arc and 15-of-18 at the charity stripe, cruising to the 12-point home win.

St. Bonaventure won the game at the free-throw line where it outscored the Dukes by a margin of 24-8.

With the win the Bonnies now head to Atlantic City and the quarterfinals of the tourney where they will face off against top-seeded Temple on Friday afternoon.

Final Score: Dayton 70, George Washington 60

Dayton, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Johnson scored 16 points, leading four players in double figures, as the Dayton Flyers posted a 70-60 win over the George Washington Colonials in the first round of the 34th annual Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament.

Also scoring in double figures for the seventh-seeded Flyers (20-11) were Rob Lowery and Chris Johnson with 11 points apiece and Paul Williams 10 points as he made 7-of-8 at the free-throw line.

The 10th-seeded Colonials (16-14) were paced by Damian Hollis who dropped in a game-high 19 points. The starting five for George Washington combined to make just 9-of-26 from the floor in the setback.

The Colonials ran out to a quick nine-point advantage in the first half, but the home team fought back, hit on 6-of-14 behind the three-point line in the period and registered a 37-33 lead at the break.

In the second half the Flyers pushed their lead as high as 13 points, securing the 10-point victory with 17-of-21 shooting at the free-throw line.

Dayton, which will now take on second-seeded Xavier in the quarterfinals on Friday evening in Atlantic City, outscored the visitors at the free-throw line by a 26-10 margin.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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