Bruins cling to Pac-10 title hopes

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2009 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 20th-ranked UCLA Bruins will try to keep their Pac-10 Conference regular season title hopes alive, as they host the Oregon Ducks at Pauley Pavilion this afternoon.

The Bruins enter the day one game behind Washington for first place and a game ahead of California for second at 12-5. With a win today, UCLA would be assured of no worse than a second-place finish, but it could also earn a share of its fourth straight Pac-10 title with a Washington loss to Washington State. The Bruins have won three straight and four of the last five outings, including a 79-54 blasting of Oregon State on Thursday. The triumph was the 15th in 17 home outings, as the Bruins improved to 23-7 overall.

As for Oregon, it assured itself of a last-place finish by dropping the first 14 games of its league schedule. The Ducks ended that drought with back-to- back wins last week, but they were unable to keep things going on Thursday, falling at USC in an 80-66 final. The loss was the ninth straight on the road for the team.

The all-time series between Oregon and UCLA leans heavily in favor of the Bruins, who extended their lead to 80-25 following an 83-74 decision over the Ducks in the first meeting of the season.

The Ducks hung tough early and trailed just 36-35 at the break, but in the second half, they shot a dismal 31.3 percent from the floor in what turned out to be an 80-66 setback at USC on Thursday. Oregon was also outdone at the foul line, where it went just 13-of-20 compared to a 22-of-28 effort by USC. Tajuan Porter guided the team in the defeat with 20 points, but he also accounted for seven of the squad's 13 turnovers. Still, Porter has been one of the few consistent players for Oregon and he is averaging a team-high 15.4 ppg, while shooting 38.6 percent from three-point range and 88.5 percent at the foul line. LeKendric Longmire is the only other player on the team contributing double figures at the moment, with 10.2 ppg.

The Bruins broke an 11-11 tie by outscoring Oregon State 32-8 the rest of the half and they would coasted to the 25-point victory on Thursday. UCLA shot an electric 58.5 percent from the field, including 10-of-19 from long range, and also held a 33-20 advantage on the boards. Josh Shipp was sensational in the win, as he poured in a career-high 27 points and knocked down 5-of-8 buckets from downtown. Nikola Dragovic added 13 points and eight boards, and Darren Collison had 11 caroms and eight assists. Collison was limited to just six points, but he is averaging much better and team-high 14.7 ppg on the season. He is also the engineer of the Bruin attack, dishing off 5.0 apg. Shipp checks in with 13.9 ppg, while Alfred Aboya logs 11.7 ppg and a team-best 5.9 rpg. Overall, UCLA is generating 76.5 ppg behind a nation-best 50.3 percent shooting from the floor.

Gamblingforfun NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Butler hosts Wright State in Horizon League semis
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded Butler Bulldogs will finally take the floor in the 2009 Horizon League Tournament, when they host the Wright State Raiders in semifinal-round action at the Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Raiders fin

<< Big East brawl pits Orange against Golden Eagles
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of strong Big East Conference teams are set to close out the regular season in Milwaukee this afternoon, as the 13th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles play host to the 25th-ranked Syracuse Orange. Syracu

<< Huskies visit Panthers in clash of Big East titans
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In what could prove to be one of the best games of the college basketball season, the top-ranked Connecticut Huskies invade the Steel City for a Big East Conference showdown with the third-ranked Pittsburgh Pan

<< 'Hawks host 'Horns in pivotal Big 12 showdown
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks close out their regular season at home this afternoon, as they welcome the Texas Longhorns to Lawrence for a Big 12 showdown from the Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks are coming

<< Germany leads Austria 2-1 in Davis Cup first-rounder
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The host Germans got a doubles victory from Nicolas Kiefer and Philipp Kohlschreiber on Saturday to grab a 2-1 lead over Austria in their best-of-five first-round Davis Cup tie. Kiefe

OVC title up for grabs in clash between Eagles and Governors >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The championship game of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament pits the second-seeded Austin Peay Governors against the fourth-seeded Morehead State Eagles. The winner of this game will earn an automatic bid to

Memphis takes aim at third straight perfect C-USA slate >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fifth-ranked Memphis Tigers will attempt to clinch their third consecutive perfect Conference USA regular season in today's finale against the Tulane Green Wave. After going 16-0 in C-USA play in both 2006-

Huskies sniffing around first outright league title since 1953 >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 16th-ranked Washington Huskies will try to wrap up the outright Pac-10 Conference regular season title today, as they host bitter rival Washington State at Bank of America Arena in Seattle. With a win over

Xavier can clinch outright A-10 title with win at Richmond >>
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the top-seed in the upcoming Atlantic 10 Tournament already locked up, the 17th-ranked Xavier Musketeers take aim at the outright regular season crown as they tangle with the Richmond Spiders at the Robins C

Bobcats try to stay on winning path at New York >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats will shoot for a franchise-record sixth straight win tonight when they kick off a quick two-game road trip against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Charlotte kept its winning streak intac

MySportsbook.com offers Blackjack contest and $10,000.00 in Free Prize money!

Every month MySportsbook.com's casino host, Jack Black, gives away $10,000.00 in free casino prize money. To Enter - All you have to do is play at least 10 hands (total) of Blackjack on one of the specified dates of the blackjack contest. The online casino host randomly hands out free bonuses ranging from $50 - $500, and one lucky player who will receive a free $2,500.00 bonus.

"We have been running this monthly free blackjack contest to our active mebers for 5 years now, and the players just love it," says Jack Black, online casino host at MySportsbook.com. "And why wouldn't they love a free chance to win some extra online blackjack cash."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs.