Purdue downs PSU, captures share of Big Ten title

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - JaJuan Johnson finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, as seventh-ranked Purdue claimed a share of the Big Ten title with a 64-60 victory over Penn State.

Keaton Grant added 17 points for the Boilermakers (26-4, 14-4 Big Ten), who pulled even with Ohio State atop the conference standings and claimed a share of their first Big Ten title since 1996. Purdue also secured the second seed for the upcoming conference tourney.

Purdue did so while playing its final three games without forward Robbie Hummel, who suffered a torn ACL on February 24. The Boilermakers fell to Michigan State in their first game without Hummel, but took the final two to close out their regular season.

"It's great, especially for our players who really sacrificed a lot and battled, to be in this position and to get the job done is a great feeling," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "We've had a little bit of bad luck here with Rob's injury, so it's good to see so many smiles in that locker room, because they know this was a team effort."

Talor Battle and Chris Babb each scored 17 for the Nittany Lions (11-19, 3-15), who were coming off Thursday's two-point loss at Michigan State. Jeff Brooks ended with 12 points and seven boards in the loss.

Battle, Penn State's leading scorer, did not play the final six-plus minutes because of cramps, though the Lions nearly pulled even down the stretch.

"He just got sick. He was just sick in the stomach," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "He was very light-headed and very dizzy. He just felt horrible. He thought he was going to vomit and all of that kind of stuff, so he was back there with the doctor for the last five or six minutes."

Purdue held a 58-49 lead after Grant hit a three-pointer with 4:45 to play, but after David Jackson made 1-of-2 from the line, Babb drained a three. Andrew Jones followed with a layup to get the Lions within 58-55.

E'Twaun Moore's make from beyond the arc pushed Purdue's lead to six with a minute left, but Penn State still nearly came back. After a steal resulted in a Brooks layup with half a minute left, Grant missed the front end of a 1- and-1, then fouled Babb on a three-point try with 19.9 seconds left.

Babb sank all three attempts to bring PSU within 61-60. Two Moore free throws set the Boilermakers' lead at three, and Babb had a chance to tie on the next Lions possession. But his attempt missed, and Lions guard Tim Frazier dribbled the ball off his leg out of bounds after getting the rebound.

Johnson went to the line and made 1-of-2 to seal the victory.

Purdue held an 18-7 lead nearly midway through the first half, after Grant sank consecutive threes and Moore deposited a layup. The Boilermakers went into the break with a 30-22 lead.

Penn State got within 32-28 on a Battle three almost three minutes into the second half, but Purdue followed with the next eight points to restore a double-digit cushion.

Game Notes

Purdue never trailed...Johnson was 11-of-14 from the foul line, but the rest of his team went 2-for-7...Chris Kramer had four steals for Purdue...Penn State sank 9-of-22 three-point tries.

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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.

Online Sportsbook Football Betting

LaDainian Tomlinson Favorite to be 2007 NFL MVP

With the first NFL preseason game less than two weeks away, it is time to start thinking about football once again at MySportsbook.com. Reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson is currently the 5-1 co-favorite to win the award again alongside Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone after his all out assault on the record books last season. For those suffering from amnesia or were under a rock last football season, all L.T. did last season was set the NFL record for rushing touchdowns (28), total touchdowns (31) and total points scored (186) to go along with his 1815 rushing yards and 508 receiving yards. At 6-1, Tom Brady is next in line which isn’t surprising considering all of the firepower the Pats added over the off-season. With the addition of Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker; it would be quite difficult for Brady’s numbers not to improve from last years 3529 yards and 24 touchdowns. There appears to be some decent value in Drew Bees at 10-1 considering he probably would have won the award last year if it wasn’t for L.T.’s record breaking season.

There is no reason to think the Saints will come back to earth this season and playing in a weak NFC, they should have as good a shot as any to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. At 15-1, Donovan McNabb could also be worth a look. Remember, many felt he was the MVP of the first half of the season before going down with a season ending injury. Reportedly, he is in great shape and well ahead of schedule to return to form. Also, he could have some added motivation to put up big numbers this season with the Eagles using their first pick in the draft on McNabb’s future successor Kevin Kolb.

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