20th-ranked Sun Devils set sights on Beavers

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/08/2009 - Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 20th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils return to the friendly confines of Wells Fargo Arena this evening, as they welcome the Oregon State Beavers to Tempe for a Pac-10 tussle.

Herb Sendek's Sun Devils are a perfect 6-0 at home this season and are 21-5 at Wells Fargo Arena over the past two campaigns. The team however, is coming off a split of its first two conference matchups, whipping Stanford on the road last Thursday (90-60), before falling to California in Berkeley last weekend (81-71). The loss was just the second this year for ASU, which had a eight- game win streak come to a close.

The Beavers opened the 2008-09 season with four straight losses, but since then, the team has won six of its last eight games to pull even at 6-6. OSU also opened league play a week ago and like the Sun Devils, split a pair of games, losing at UCLA (69-46), before salvaging the trip to Los Angeles two days later with a 62-58 overtime victory at USC. The victory snapped a dreadful 21-game losing streak in regular season Pac-10 play for the Beavers.

The Beavers lead the series with the Sun Devils by a count of 38-33, but it was ASU which swept the season series a year ago.

The Beavers have turned things around this year thanks to solid play at the defensive end of the floor. OSU is allowing just 61.6 ppg this year, as foes are shooting just .425 from the floor. Offensively, the team is generating a rather low average of 62.6 ppg, but the Beavers take full advantage of each trip up and down the floor, hitting on a solid .488 from the field. The team does have one of the conference's top offensive threats in Calvin Haynes, who is delivering on 58.5 percent of his shots, leading the team with nearly 18 points per outing (17.8). Omari Johnson ranks second in scoring at 10.9 ppg and leads the team with 5.7 rpg. The Beavers once again shot the ball very well (especially in the second half) in their win over USC, as the team converted 50 percent from the floor overall, and 7-of-15 from behind the arc. Roeland Schaftenaar led the way with 18 points. Haynes was a close second, coming off the bench with 16 points. Johnson finished off the double-digit scorers with 11 points.

The Sun Devils have been highly successful at both ends of the floor this season and are currently enjoying a +16.3 scoring margin. The team is shooting a stellar .510 from the field (nearly 40 percent from three-point range), leading to a healthy 76.1 ppg. The defensive effort has been equally impressive, holding opponents to a tad over 40 percent shooting and a meager 59.8 ppg. Forward James Harden is once again the focal point of the offensive gameplan, as he is shooting .547 from the floor, including a scorching .438 from three-point range. The result is a hefty 23.4 ppg. What makes Harden even more dangerous is his ability to help out on the boards (6.1 rpg), as well as in the passing lanes (second on the team with 64 assists). Jeff Pendergraph is another option in the frontcourt (14.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg), while the sharpshooting Rihards Kuksiks (10.6 ppg, .510 shooting, .527 from behind the arc) and Ty Abbott (10.2 ppg) add perimeter balance. The Sun Devils fell victim to a very accurate shooting performance from the hometown Golden Bears last weekend, as Cal connected on 58 percent from the floor, including hitting nine three- pointers. The hot shooting spoiled a terrific offensive performance from Harden, who poured in 26 points. Kuksiks and Pendergraph were productive as well, adding 16 points apiece. However, the rest of the team combined for a mere 13 total points in the loss.

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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.

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards

Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.