Rebels try to run past Ducks and into the "Elite Eight"
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
03/23/2007 - St. Louis. MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Responsible for sending home the highest defeated seed in the 69th annual NCAA Tournament last weekend, the seventh- seeded UNLV Runnin' Rebels are ready to take care of business against the Oregon Ducks in the Midwest Regional semifinals at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
The Rebels, who knocked off the BYU Cougars in the finals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament title game, slipped by Georgia Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament a week ago with a 67-63 victory. The win was the seventh in a row for UNLV and set up a date against second-seeded Wisconsin on Sunday, a meeting that fell in favor of the Rebels by a final of 74-68. With the victory UNLV, which won the national title back in 1990, moved to an impressive 32-13 in the event all-time, giving the team one of the best winning percentages in the history of the tourney.
As for the Midwest Region's third-seeded Ducks, winners of the very first NCAA Tournament way back in 1939, they moved to 11-7 in the tournament with a convincing 75-61 decision against an upstart Winthrop squad on Sunday in Spokane. That win came on the heels of a narrow 58-56 triumph versus Miami-Ohio two days earlier. Having won the Pac-10 Conference Tournament against USC by an amazing 24-point margin, Oregon has now pushed its win streak to eight in a row.
With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, this is the third meeting, with each squad having won one of the previous encounters.
The winner of this battle will advance to the round of eight and face the winner of the Butler/Florida contest on Sunday for the right to move on to the Final Four in Atlanta.
UNLV's win over Wisconsin, a team that was ranked sixth in the nation, was the first for the team versus a top-10 program since defeating fifth-ranked Utah by three points nine years ago. Much of the credit has to go to coach Lon Kruger's son, Kevin, who finished with 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting behind the three- point line. In addition, Kruger also handed out seven of the unit's 12 assists and cleared six rebounds in the victory. Powered by a four-guard offense, the Rebels were paced in the scoring department by Wendell White who tallied 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor and a perfect 6-of-6 effort at the charity stripe. The Rebels made half of their 20 attempts beyond the arc.
Although he's listed as a guard, White spends as much time in the paint as anyone else on the unit, leading the team with his 6.2 rpg and 14.6 ppg. Kruger checks in with 13.4 ppg and is by far the most accomplished passer with 155 assists, against just 61 turnovers. Wink Adams (14.1 ppg) comes in a distant second in terms of assists with his 82 and is shooting just 38.9 percent from the field at the moment. Shooting just 36.4 percent from three-point range, the Rebels have done well to give themselves plenty of chances from the perimeter with a mere 11.2 turnovers per game, which ranks seventh in the nation at the moment.
Back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2002, the Ducks made their move to the latest round by sending the Winthrop Eagles packing with a 14-point decision last weekend. The Eagles actually hung tough through the first 20 minutes, trailing by just four points at the break (33-29), but then the UO defense went to work and held Winthrop to a mere 34.3 percent shooting from the field and 4-of-19 behind the three-point line. By comparison, the Ducks made good on 11-of-23 attempts beyond the arc and were 48.2 percent accurate from the floor in the win. Except for Bryce Taylor, who was limited to just eight points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field, every starter scored in double figures for the squad, beginning with Aaron Brooks who tallied 22 points on 5- of-9 behind the three-point line. Tajuan Porter chipped in 14 points as he made half of his eight chances out on the perimeter, while Malik Hairston and Maarty Leunen tacked on 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Just like the Rebels, Oregon enjoys pumping out shots from behind the three-point line and is currently ninth in the country in three-point baskets per game with almost nine and a half per outing. Porter, who has taken 230 of his 362 field goal attempts from beyond the arc, is making 43.5 percent of his chances, leading to 14.2 ppg. He trails only Brooks (17.8 ppg) and Taylor (14.6 ppg) in the scoring department, with Brooks also pacing the team with his 140 assists. Not to be overlooked is Leunen who is producing 10.9 ppg and a team-best 8.3 rpg.
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels have reached the "Sweet 16" as expected, and they will battle the fifth-seeded USC Trojans for the right to advance to the "Elite Eight". Awaiting the winn
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Sacramento Monarchs (WNBA) >>
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Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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