Butler hosts Wright State in Horizon League semis

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2009 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded Butler Bulldogs will finally take the floor in the 2009 Horizon League Tournament, when they host the Wright State Raiders in semifinal-round action at the Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Raiders find themselves in the semis after defeating UW-Milwaukee, 80-70, in quarterfinal play on Friday. Wright State, which finished 12-6 in conference, earning the fourth-seed, opened the tournament with a 68-56 victory over Valparaiso.

As for the 22nd-ranked Bulldogs, they earned the top seed in this event and a bye into this round with a 15-3 conference ledger. It was the seventh Horizon League regular season championship for Butler, which is participating in the semifinals for the 11th time in 13 seasons and will be trying to repeat as conference tournament champion. The Bulldogs will have a clear advantage playing at home where the team is 14-1 this season, and 124-16 since 1999-2000.

The Bulldogs defeated Wright State twice this season, and that included a convincing 64-48 decision over the Raiders at Hinkle Fieldhouse back in January. With the two victories over Wright State this season, the Bulldogs now own a 19-15 mark in the all-time series.

The Raiders opened the second half against UW-Milwaukee with a 15-2 run, and never looked back as the team went on to defeat the Panthers in an 80-70 final. Wright State shot a sizzling 53.2 percent from the floor in the win, and that included an even more impressive 12-of-18 showing from behind the arc. Cory Cooperwood's double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds led the way, while Cooper Land tallied 13 points off the bench. N'Gai Evans added 12 points and five assists in the win, and Scott Grote chipped in 10 points. It was without question a surprising performance by WSU, which is averaging just 60.6 ppg. The team's leading scorer, Todd Brown (11.8 ppg), was not even a factor in the win over UWM, as the guard finished with just eight points. Although the Raiders were offensive-oriented in their recent win, the team still relies on its tenacious defensive play, which has held opponents to just 57.3 ppg on the season.

Butler's success this year also stems from the its outstanding defensive play. The Bulldogs allow a mere 57.4 ppg, and just a 37.9 percent shooting from the field. Butler is also forcing 13.6 turnovers per matchup, and as a team the Bulldogs are outrebounding the competition by 3.2 rpg. The Bulldogs were at it again in the regular-season finale against Cleveland State, as Butler held the Vikings to 56 points on a 40.4 percent shooting from the floor. Butler forced 14 turnovers. Offensively, the team was paced by Willie Veasley who scored 16 points and also collected seven rebounds. Matt Howard contributed 12 points, while Ronald Nored tallied 11. The HL's Newcomer of the Year, Gordon Hayward, chipped in with nine points and six boards for Butler. Hayward, who was also selected to the All-Horizon First Team, is contributing 13.8 ppg on the season, but the main scoring threat has been Howard who is averaging 14.3 ppg and 6.9 rpg. Shelvin Mac has been a terrific floor general for Butler, handing out 103 assists, to go with his 11.7 ppg.

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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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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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