49ers aim for record fifth Big West title against top-seeded Gauchos

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long Beach State tries to raise its total of Big West Conference Tournament titles to a record five, as the 49ers clash with the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in the championship round of the 35th-annual event at Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

LBSU, the third seed in this year's tourney, is currently tied with Pacific for the most tournament crowns with four, the most recent of those coming in 2007 with a 94-83 victory over Cal Poly. This time around LBSU had to work through the quarterfinals with a 79-69 victory over the sixth-seeded Mustangs and then take a 68-61 win versus second-seeded Pacific on Friday night.

As for the top-seeded Gauchos, a team that is well below .500 in this tournament over the years and has just a single crown (2002) to show for its efforts, they jumped right into the semifinals last night and used the opportunity to dismiss fourth-seeded UC Davis in a 76-62 decision that wasn't quite as close as the final score may have indicated.

The teams split the two regular season meetings, with each winning at home. While Long Beach State was able to log a lopsided 67-47 rout in its building back in the middle of January, the Gauchos were lucky to come away with their 64-62 win at the Thunderdome a month later. Due to the split, Long Beach State now owns a slim 53-52 advantage in the all-time series.

Casper Ware lit up the scoreboard for a career-high 22 points, shooting 6- of-16 from the field and 10-of-11 at the free-throw line, in the win over Pacific last night. Also scoring in double figures for the victors were Larry Anderson and Stephan Gilling with 14 and 12 points, respectively, as the squad shot an impressive 7-of-15 behind the three-point line, compared to just 5- of-22 out on the perimeter for the Tigers. Although he failed to reach double figures, T.J. Robinson is still the top scorer for the program with his 15.4 ppg overall this season and 14.9 ppg versus Big West foes, accounting for 10.1 rpg on the season as well. Anderson, who is just a 23.7 percent shooter behind the three-point line, is responsible for 11.8 ppg and Ware is now up to 11.7 ppg on the campaign, even though he too has had his share of issues shooting the ball from the floor at a meager 36.8 percent accuracy.

UC Davis was completely overwhelmed last night as the Aggies made just a single field goal through the first 12 minutes of the contest and trailed by a 16-4 score with barely seven and a half minutes remaining in the first half. The UCSB defense eased up in the second half, but the offense for the Gauchos knocked down 63.6 percent form the floor in order to keep plenty of distance between themselves and the opposition. James Powell tallied 22 points off the bench, James Nunnally 17 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, followed by Orlando Johnson with 14 points. Averaging more than 31 minutes per game, Johnson leads the squad in scoring with his 17.9 ppg and is also second on the unit in rebounding (5.4 rpg) and assists (63) over 28 appearances. Nunnally chips in with 14.9 ppg and while he also leads the unit with his 5.7 rpg, he's found time and opportunity to make good on 45.7 percent of his three-point tries as well.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

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