Jayhawks capitalize on turnovers to top Texas

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/08/2010 - Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Morris posted 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists, as No. 1 Kansas overcame a poor shooting performance by clamping down defensively on the 14th-ranked Longhorns to earn an 80-68 Big 12 victory.

The Jayhawks (23-1, 9-0) made up for their 40 percent shooting effort by converting 17 turnovers into 27 points for their ninth straight victory.

Xavier Henry added 15 points and five rebounds, while Sherron Collins had five assists and four steals to go with 15 points on 3-of-13 shooting for the victors.

Texas (19-5, 5-4), which was the top-ranked team in the country just three weeks ago, has lost five of its last seven games following a torrid 17-0 start to the season.

J'Covan Brown paced the Longhorns with a career-high 28 points, while Damion James chipped in 24 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in defeat.

The hosts were down 61-44 before Brown scored seven straight points late in the second half. Brown's three-pointer made it a 10-point contest with 4 1/2 minutes remaining, though Markieff Morris bought Kansas a little more breathing room with a three-point play.

Cole Aldrich was whistled for a technical foul when he landed an elbow to James' head after pulling down a miss from Brown, who hit the two freebies prior to James converting a three-point play for a 64-56 contest.

Two Henry free throws and a Tyrel Reed make inside pumped the margin back to double digits, and the Jayhawks rolled to another big road win.

After hitting five of their first eight shots for a 14-8 lead six minutes into the game, the Longhorns missed 13 straight from the field over an 11-minute span.

Brady Morningstar, Markieff Morris, Tyshawn Taylor and Collins each hit from behind the arc on the subsequent 22-0 run, the latter a deep three from the left wing giving Kansas a 30-14 cushion with five minutes left in the half.

James, who ended with 15 first-half points to keep Texas in the game, banked in a three-ball to end the scoreless stretch, and Avery Bradley's late trey cut the hosts' deficit to 34-24 at halftime.

Kansas led by double digits through most a sloppy second half, forcing a lifeless Erwin Center crowd out of the game even further.

The Jayhawks scored the first five points of the stanza for a 15-point game three minutes in, and near the midway point, Collins stripped Dogus Balbay in Texas' end of the court, leading to a Marcus Morris dunk for a 50-34 margin.

Game Notes

Texas has never beaten the No. 1 team in the country, dropping all seven matchups...The Longhorns had won three straight home games against Kansas...Texas had just five points off 10 Kansas turnovers...Kansas is now 7-1 in true road games, while Texas fell to 12-2 at home.

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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).

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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.

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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.

SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.