No. 3 Syracuse tops WVU amid controversy

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/29/2012 - Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - No. 3 Syracuse snuck past West Virginia, 63-61, but Saturday's finish at the Carrier Dome was marred by controversy.

With West Virginia down by two, Darryl Bryant missed a three-pointer for the Mountaineers. Deniz Kilicli grabbed a big offensive rebound and went up for a layup. However, Baye Keita pinned the ball against the glass in what seemed to be an easy goaltending call.

The whistles stayed silent on the court, however, and West Virginia kept the ball with 6.2 seconds to go after Kris Joseph fell out of bounds. But Kevin Jones' shot from beyond the arc was off the mark as time expired.

Afterward, West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins was frustrated by what he though was a blown call at the end of the game. No one needed to tell him whether it was goaltending or not.

"Did I think it was? No. I know it was. I just saw the replay," Huggins said.

Brandon Triche had 18 points for the Orange (22-1, 9-1 Big East), who have won two in a row since a loss to Notre Dame on January 21. Kris Joseph added 13 points and seven rebounds.

Syracuse improved to 15-0 at the Carrier Dome this season.

"We did a good job defensively and then when Kris got the ball I don't know what he was thinking," Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. "I don't know, I have no clue. He just has to hold the ball and the game is over. The offense, and based on that play alone, we probably should have lost the game. We played good defense and we challenged. With that loose ball the game should have been over."

Jones ended with 20 points and eight boards for the Mountaineers (15-7, 5-4), who have dropped two straight. Bryant and Gary Browne donated 12 and 11 points, respectively.

With the score tied at 56, the Mountaineers turned the ball over on a shot clock violation. Joseph recorded a three-point play at the other end to give the Orange a 59-56 edge with three minutes to play.

Jabarie Hinds' floater in the lane got WVU within one, but Joseph's layup off Dion Waiters' missed three-pointer put Syracuse ahead by three again.

Jones responded with a three-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 61 with 1:37 left. Triche made two free throws at the opposite end to put the Orange back on top.

Hinds and Jones each missed shots from beyond the arc for the Mountaineers. Waiters failed to make a fadeaway jumper for the Orange, leading to the final chain of events.

West Virginia led for most of the first half and held a 22-16 margin on Jones' three-pointer with 7:36 remaining.

But Syracuse finished the frame on a 12-2 run to take a 28-24 lead at the break.

Triche's three-pointer and layup early in the second half gave the home team a six-point lead, 33-27, which proved to be the largest difference the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Syracuse leads the all-time series by a 34-16 margin. West Virginia fell to 3-22 at Syracuse and 1-10 against the Orange in the Carrier Dome. WVU's only win at the Carrier Dome against Syracuse was a 101-79 decision on December 4, 1996...Syracuse center Fab Melo missed his third straight game due to academic issues...WVU turned the ball over 17 times.

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NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

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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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