Huskies can claim share of Pac-10 title with win over Wildcats

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/28/2009 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 21st-ranked Washington Huskies will try to claim at least a share of the Pac-10 title today, as they welcome the Arizona Wildcats to Bank of America Arena in Seattle.

The Huskies and Arizona State did battle for supremacy in the Pac-10 on Thursday, with Washington claiming a 73-70 overtime victory in that game. The win pushed Washington to 12-4 in the league standings, leaving it ahead of the Sun Devils as well as California and UCLA, whom all stand at 10-5. With a win today, the Huskies would earn a share of their first Pac-10 title since 1985. Washington can also wrap up its first outright conference title since 1953 with a victory today and another against Washington State in its regular season finale. All of the team's remaining games are also set to take place at Bank of America Arena, where the Huskies have gone 15-1 this season.

As for Arizona, it has dropped two straight decisions on the heels of a seven- game winning streak. The Wildcats, who are wrapping up a three-game road trip today, were most recently in action in a 69-53 whipping at Washington State on Thursday.

Arizona however, does lead the all-time series with Washington, 42-23, and that includes a 106-97 triumph in a shootout last month.

Arizona actually led 29-26 at the break on Thursday, but Washington State took over in the second half, shooting a blistering 68.0 percent from the floor in a 69-53 win. The Wildcats made only 34.8 percent of their field goal tries over the last 20 minutes and were outrebounded, 34-25, on the night. Nic Wise guided the team in the loss with 19 points and four helpers, while Jordan Hill posted 15 points and nine rebounds. On the season, Hill is averaging a double- double with 17.9 ppg and 11.0 rpg, as he leads Arizona in both departments. Chase Budinger is hot on his trail with 17.5 ppg and he is also grabbing 6.5 rpg and shooting 41.5 percent from long range. Wise adds 14.9 ppg and he has been responsible for setting up Hill and Budinger, dishing out a team-high 4.6 apg.

Washington outscored Arizona State at the foul line, 8-0, in overtime, as it came away with a huge win on Thursday. The Huskies held a big advantage at the line, as they finished the game 25-of-31 compared to just 9-of-13 showing by the Sun Devils. Jon Brockman led the charge with a double-double that consisted of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Justin Dentmon turned in 16 points and four assists, while Isaiah Thomas chipped in with 11 points. On the season, Dentmon has taken over the scoring lead at 15.8 ppg and he is shooting 44.1 percent from three-point land. Thomas nips as at his heels with 15.7 ppg, and Brockman averages a double-double with 14.9 ppg and a team-high 11.3 rpg. Quincy Pondexter adds 11.5 ppg and 5.8 rpg for a Washington club that is netting a healthy 79.2 ppg and outrebounding foes by 8.9 rpg.

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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.

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