Blue Devils hope to avoid upset in ACC tourney clash with Cavs
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
03/12/2010 - Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded and fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils begin their quest for another ACC Tournament title today, as they take on the ninth-seeded Virginia Cavaliers in the quarterfinal round at Greensboro Coliseum. The winner of this game moves on to the semifinals against either Virginia Tech or Miami-Florida on Saturday.
With wins in nine of their final 10 games, the Blue Devils finished 13-3 within the conference and grabbed a share of the program's 12th ACC regular- season crown. Duke won the tie-breaker with Maryland and received the No.1 seed in the ACC Tournament for the 17th time in school history. As the top seed, the Blue Devils are 34-8 all-time, including wins in 14 of their last 15 games, and they have won eight championships. Overall, Duke is tied with North Carolina with 17 titles in this event, and the Blue Devils are the defending champions after topping Florida State in the finals last season.
Virginia meanwhile, has won this tourney just one time and that took place all the way back in 1976. Despite a 5-11 finish to the regular-season, the Cavs were able to down eighth-seeded Boston College, 68-62, in opening-round play yesterday. The win snapped a nine-game slide that dated back to early February.
As for the all-time series, Duke holds a 111-48 advantage over Virginia and that includes a 67-49 triumph on February 28th.
The Cavs hit on 43.4 percent of their attempts from the floor and 14-of-20 at the foul line, as they slipped past BC yesterday. Virginia also did a terrific job protecting the ball, committing only five turnovers. Sammy Zeglinski made 5-of-10 three-pointers on his way to 21 points in the win, while Jeff Jones had 14 points. In all, five players reached double figures for Virginia and that was important considering the team is playing without leading scorer Sylven Landesberg (17.3 ppg), who will miss the remainder of the season for academic reasons. Mike Scott, who posted a double-double 11 points and 13 rebounds, is the squad's lone double-figure scorer at 11.9 ppg and he also pulls down a team-high 7.0 rpg.
The Blue Devils are averaging a healthy 79.1 ppg behind a trio of stars in Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith Kyle Singler. A first-team All-ACC pick, Scheyer tops the roster in scoring (18.9 ppg) as well as steals (51) and he even hands out a team-high 5.2 apg. Smith, a second-team all-league choice, follows with 17.6 ppg and he is a 40.4 percent three-point shooter. As for Singler, he was selected to the All-ACC first-team after producing 17.2 ppg and 6.8 rpg during the regular season.
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New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-seeded and seventh-ranked West
Virginia Mountaineers duke it out with the seventh-seeded Notre Dame Fighting
Irish in the semifinal round of the Big East Tournament tonight at Madison
Square Garden. The
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Tournament yesterday come together in the semifinals tonight, as the eighth-
seeded and 22nd-ranked Georgetown Hoyas battle the fifth-seeded Marquette
Golden Eagles at Madison
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Terrapins will try to continue their winning ways tonight, as they tangle with
the seventh-seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the quarterfinals of the ACC
Tournamen
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take on the seventh-seeded Northwestern Wildcats this evening in quarterfinal
action of the Big Ten Conference Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse.
The Wildcats bega
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Devils try to close the gap versus Atlantic Division-leading Pens >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A key battle for the Atlantic Division crown is on tap
tonight in Newark as the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the New Jersey Devils at
Prudential Center.
The Penguins lead the Atlantic with 85 points, while New Jersey -- the
Capitals turn eye to East's top seed in meeting with Lightning >>
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Tonight, they'll try to move closer to locking up the top seed in the Eastern
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Nuggets visit the Big Easy to take on Hornets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One slip at the controls and the Denver Nuggets will have
some company atop the Northwest Division standings. They'll try to prevent
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Thunder host hapless Nets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The chances of the Oklahoma City Thunder posting their
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The Thunder made it four
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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