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Bears set sights on Bulldogs in MEAC title gameNCAA Basketball Betting Lines03/13/2010 - Winston-Salem, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Back in the title game of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament for the third straight year, the Morgan State Bears try to repeat as champions this afternoon as they tangle with South Carolina State at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem. The Bears were almost unbeatable in conference play this season at 15-1, which is why they were made the top seed in this 39th annual event. Morgan State earned a bye into the quarterfinals where it defeated ninth-seeded North Carolina A&T without much effort in an 84-57 final on Wednesday. On Friday the squad captured a 74-67 win over fifth-seeded Hampton to move to 31-25 in the event overall. As for the third-seeded Bulldogs, they first slipped by Maryland-Eastern Shore, the sixth seed, in a 59-53 triumph on Thursday and then followed that up with a 70-66 overtime win versus second-seeded Delaware State in the semifinals on Friday. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, with SC State putting up a 71-68 victory in the most recent decision on the road in the middle of February. The advantage in the all-time series rests with the Bulldogs by a count of 39-26. Jason Flagler scored a game-high 19 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the floor, while adding eight rebounds in SC State's win over Delaware State in overtime on Friday. Rio Pitt posted 11 points as he made good on all five of his field goals attempts, followed by Brandon Smalls and Carrio Bennett who both tacked don 10 points for a team that shot 53.1 percent from the field in order to offset 16 turnovers. Flagler, the leading scorer in five of the last six games, leads the team overall on the season with his 15.2 ppg, stemming from his impressive 55.8 percent effort from the floor and his 87 percent accuracy at the free-throw line. Darnell Porter checks in with 13.0 ppg, thanks in large part to his 41.1 percent shooting beyond the arc this season. The team as a whole has made a mere 30.7 percent on the perimeter. Balanced scoring was the order of the day on Friday as the Bears put five players in double figures in the win over Hampton, but only one of them (Ameer Ali, 14 points) had more than a dozen points in the victory. Troy Smith and Joe Davis both came away with 12 points, followed by Reggie Holmes and DeWayne Jackson 11 points apiece as the team worked through 16 turnovers and just 2- of-8 shooting behind the three-point line. Morgan State won the meeting at the free-throw line where it held a 30-18 advantage. One of the top scorers in college basketball this season, Holmes is pouring in 21.9 ppg, having spent an inordinate amount of time at the free-throw line where he's made 234-of-286 chances. Toss in another 553 field goal attempts over the course of his 35 starts and you have a player who easily has his hands on the ball more than anyone else on the team. Kevin Thompson is averaging a double-double with 12.7 points and 12.0 rebounds per game, the latter making him one of the most aggressive players on the glass in the nation in 2009-10.
<< Bobcats battle Zips for Mid-American Conference crown
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Looking to claim their second consecutive Mid-American Conference Tournament title, the third-seeded Akron Zips will take the floor this evening against the ninth-seeded Ohio University Bobcats at the Quicken Lo
<< Big Ten semifinals feature Buckeyes against Illini
<< Jayhawks and Wildcats collide for Big 12 title
<< Huskies and Coyotes square off for first-ever Great West title
<< Hoyas and Mountaineers square off for Big East crown
Boilermakers and Golden Gophers meet in Big Ten semifinals >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A chance to play in the Big Ten Conference Tournament championship game will be on the line this afternoon when the sixth-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers take on the second-seeded Purdue Boilermakers in semif
Rebels and Aztecs seek MWC crown in Sin City >>
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Big 12 Conference betting odds Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State Work left to do: Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on. Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough. Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.
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