UNLV battles BYU in MWC Tournament semifinals

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In search of revenge for a devastating loss in the last meeting between the two programs, the 14th-ranked BYU Cougars clash with the UNLV Runnin' Rebels tonight in the semifinals of the 11th annual Mountain West Conference Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

BYU, which is the second seed in this year's event, has put together a three- game win streak and has won seven of the last eight games overall, thanks to a 95-85 defeat of the TCU Horned Frogs in the quarterfinals on Thursday night. It was the second time in as many games that the Cougars had dumped TCU after closing out the regular season with a resounding 107-77 victory in Fort Worth.

As for the Rebels, the third seed and the host school for this event once again, they had an easy time of it against a pesky Utah group that had actually swept the season series versus UNLV. Yesterday the Rebels took out their frustrations by putting up a 73-61 win in their own building. UNLV, a three-time winner of this tournament, now has a record of 18-6 in the event since it began in 2000.

With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, the Rebels own a 17-14 edge after crushing the Cougars in an 88-74 decision last month in this very building.

The winner of tonight's matchup will move onto the finals and face the winner of the San Diego State/New Mexico game for the championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Balanced scoring kept the Rebels on pace against Utah on Thursday as the home team picked up 13 points, 12 rebounds and five assists from Anthony Marshall in the double-digit victory. Also scoring 13 points before fouling out was Tre'Von Willis, while Chace Stanback accounted for 10 points, six boards and three steals for a team that shot only 4-of-12 behind the three-point line. Defense played a major role for the Rebels as they held the Utes to just 32.5 percent shooting from the field and 4-of-16 out on the perimeter, not to mention forcing the squad into 15 turnovers. Even though he made an early exit on Thursday, Willis is still the driving force on offense for the Rebels with his team-best 17.5 ppg this season and his 105 assists, second only to Oscar Bellfield who has dealt 143. Stanback (10.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg) is providing solid play in the paint as the group continues to outscore opponents by more than 10 ppg on the season.

It was only a matter of time before Jimmer Fredette exploded on the hardwood once again, and it happened on Thursday as he delivered a game-high 45 points in BYU's defeat of TCU. Perhaps most impressive about the effort for Fredette, his second-highest scoring effort of the season behind the 49 he dropped on Arizona in a 99-69 win just after Christmas, is the fact that he made good on all but one of his 24 free-throw attempts. Both his accuracy at the charity stripe and his overall scoring total set new conference tournament records as Fredette helped BYU brake a 60-year school record for wins in a season. Also scoring in double figures for the Cougars in the victory was Jackson Emery with his 15 points as the team made good on 33-of-37 chances at the free-throw line. Few players in college basketball possess the sort of talent that has allowed Fredette to generate 20.6 ppg this season as he shoots exceptionally well out on the perimeter (.472) and has a knack for drawing contact and taking advantage at the free-throw line (171-of-194). Emery (12.6 ppg) and Tyler Haws (11.4 ppg) are also important pieces on offense for BYU, but clearly the star of the show is Fredette.

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.