Kansas captures Big 12 title with third win over K-State

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Morris donated 18 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 1 Kansas to its seventh Big 12 Tournament championship behind a 72-64 victory over ninth-seeded Kansas State.

The Jayhawks (32-2) never trailed in the second half and all but assured themselves a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Tyrel Reed provided 15 points, and Sherron Collins scored 12 to go with eight assists for top-seeded Kansas, which outscored Kansas State at the foul line, 24-8. Cole Aldrich chipped in 10 points and eight boards for the victors.

Denis Clemente netted 17 points, while Jamar Samuels and Jacob Pullen had 14 and 13, respectively, for the second-seeded Wildcats (26-7), who were trying for their first Big 12 Tournament title.

Kansas State, which has already recorded a school record in wins this season, was beaten by a 38-18 margin in the paint.

The game started slow for both teams, with just two field goals being made in the opening five minutes -- both by Kansas.

After the lead changed hands several times, the Jayhawks took over for good on a Morris jumper and Xavier Henry dunk, the latter yielding a 19-16 score with 8 1/2 minutes left in the opening half.

Two Collins free throws closed out the stanza for a 31-27 margin, and Morris had a pair of buckets to open the second half for an eight-point lead.

A Samuels three-pointer and Clemente steal and layup had the KSU deficit down to 40-38 with 13 1/2 minutes remaining, but the Jayhawks scored nine of the next 12 points, with Brady Morningstar's basket making it 49-41 with under 11 minutes to play.

Kansas State didn't go quietly, again making it a two-possession game, 55-50, on Pullen's three-pointer a little later. Another mini spurt by Kansas, though, quickly followed.

Reed caught an outlet pass from Collins after an Aldrich steal and put in a layup for a 64-52 lead with 4:50 to play.

The closest the Wildcats got from there was six.

Game Notes

Kansas State has lost four times in the last 13 games, with three of those setbacks coming to Kansas...This is Kansas' fourth conference tourney crown in the past five years...Henry had just four points on 1-of-7 shooting...Kansas State shot 34.8 percent from the floor, compared to a 43.4 percent shooting effort by the Jayhawks.

Wwwmapau NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Sidney's Candy garners San Felipe Stakes
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sidney's Candy, winner of the San Vicente Stakes, made it two straight Saturday by winning the $150,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park. The colt covered the 1 1/16-miles in 1:42.30. Ridden by

<< No. 2 Stanford handles Cal, on to Pac-10 final
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nnemkadi Ogwumike led all scorers with 18 points along with 10 rebounds as the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal handled the California Golden Bears, 64-44 in the semifinals of the Pac-10 Conference Tournam

<< NBA suspends Bulls' Hinrich one game, fines Suns coach Gentry
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA suspended Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich for one game and fined Phoenix Suns head coach Alvin Gentry $25,000 for separate incidents from Friday. Hinrich made contact with an official during

<< Kuznetsova falls at Indian Wells
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain upended No. 1 seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, in second-round action at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open tennis event. Navarro's victory was the only s

<< Lookin At Lucky captures Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn
Hot Springs, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Champion colt Lookin At Lucky made a successful debut Saturday as a three-year-old in the $300,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. The 2009 champion two-year-old was the even-money favorite in the sev

Huskies edge Cal to take Pac-10 crown >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quincy Pondexter had 18 points to lead Washington to a 79-75 win over California, as the Huskies won their second Pac-10 Conference Tournament title. Isaiah Thomas had 16 points and Venoy Overton

Ohio upends Akron in OT, gains MAC's automatic bid >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Armon Bassett poured in 25 points and made the go-ahead jumper late in overtime, as the ninth-seeded Ohio University Bobcats punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament with an 81-75 victory over the t

San Diego State handles UNLV in MWC title game >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kawhi Leonard scored 16 points and set a Mountain West Conference Tournament record with 21 rebounds as San Diego State punched its ticket to the Big Dance with a 55-45 win over UNLV on the Runnin' Rebels'

Magic win eighth straight, top Wizards >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard put up 28 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and even dished out five assists, as Orlando overcame a sluggish start to upend lowly Washington, 109-95. J.J. Redick netted 18 points, and fellow

Bryzgalov, Coyotes shut out Hurricanes >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ilya Bryzgalov made 29 saves to record his NHL- leading eighth shutout, and the Phoenix Coyotes won their fourth straight game with a 4-0 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes. Lee Stempniak and Martin Hanzal each

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