Ranked foes meet in Big Ten battle

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2010 - East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 10th-ranked Michigan State Spartans will try to keep their slim hold on the top spot in the Big Ten tonight, as they host the sixth-ranked Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena.

After opening their Big Ten slate with nine consecutive wins, MSU was in complete control and on its ways to a second straight Big Ten regular-season crown. However, the Spartans were defeated in both of their outings last week, including a 78-73 setback at Illinois on Saturday, and are now only one game up in the standings. MSU is still a healthy 19-5 overall, including a perfect 13-0 at home, but there is no longer any margin for error.

One of the teams nipping at the heels of MSU is Purdue, which is 7-3 in conference play. Since losing three straight, the Boilermakers have run off five wins in a row, including a 78-75 besting of Indiana on Thursday. Purdue is now a hardy 19-3 overall and is on its way to a fourth straight 20-win campaign.

Purdue leads the all-time series with MSU, 62-44, and has taken three of the past five meetings, although the Boilermakers haven't won in East Lansing since 1998.

The Boilermakers knocked down 46.4 percent of their attempts from the floor and 20-of-28 at the foul line, as they slipped past Indiana last week. Robbie Hummel and JaJuan Johnson each scored 21 points in the win and they combined for 16 rebounds and a 16-of-21 showing at the foul line. E'Twaun Moore tacked on 14 points, as he remains the team's leading scorer on the season, averaging 17.2 ppg. Hummel adds 16.5 ppg and a team-best 7.2 rpg to the mix, while Johnson contributes 14.4 ppg and 6.9 rpg.

The Spartans shot a sound 54.7 percent from the floor, but that still wasn't enough to overcome 18 turnovers in an 78-73 loss at Illinois on Saturday. Draymond Green paced the team in defeat with a double-double of 17 points and 16 rebounds, while Chris Allen had 15 points. The Spartans played their second straight game without Kalin Lucas, as he continues to nurse a sprained right ankle. Lucas, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, leads the team in both scoring (15.6 ppg) and assists (4.0 apg), but is listed as questionable for tonight. Durrell Summers and Raymar Morgan are both tied for second in scoring at 10.8 ppg and they are also combining for 10.6 rpg. Green, a jack-of-all- trades, adds 10.5 ppg to go along with 3.0 apg and a team-high 8.3 rpg.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

Best Horse Betting Online

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

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