James powers Longhorns over Red Raiders

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/26/2009 - Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Damion James recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds, as the 25th-ranked Texas Longhorns held on to beat the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 87-81, at the Frank Erwin Center.

A.J. Abrams added 24 points for the Longhorns (19-8, 8-5 Big 12), who were coming off their biggest win of the season with a 73-68 victory over then second-ranked Oklahoma on Saturday. Dogus Balbay ended with 11 points and five assists.

Abrams went 4-of-9 from three-point land and finished 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Texas hit 31-of-43 foul shots in the game, while Texas Tech converted on 15-of-21 shots from the stripe.

Nick Okorie hit 4-of-6 three-pointers on his way to 24 points for the Red Raiders (12-16, 2-11), who have lost five straight and nine of its last 10 outings. John Roberson had 15 points, while Alan Voskuil finished with 12. Mike Singletary added 17 points and eight rebounds off the bench in defeat.

After Okorie made a pair of foul shots to cut the gap to 69-68, the Longhorns rattled off four consecutive points. Balbay connected on a pair of shots from the stripe to extend the lead to five with under six minutes remaining.

Okorie's shot from beyond the arc cut the margin to two, 73-71, with just over five minutes to go.

Following a pair of foul shots from James and Singletary, Texas used layups on consecutive possessions from James and Justin Mason to go up six with under three minutes to play.

Ahead 81-76, Abrams misfired from beyond the arc with about 1 1/2 minutes to go. But the rebound went out of bounds off a Texas Tech player to give Texas the ball with a new shot clock. Thus, the Red Raiders were forced to foul the remainder of the way.

The Longhorns hit 6-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final 90 seconds.

Texas led for a majority of the first half, but the Red Raiders made a strong push toward the end of the frame to take the lead. With the score tied at 30 with about 6 1/2 minutes to go, the Longhorns ran off eight unanswered points to go ahead 38-30. Darko Cohadarevic's layup capped off the flurry with 4:15 left.

Texas Tech held onto their margin and took a 43-38 advantage into the locker room. The Red Raiders shot an amazing 55.6 percent from the field in the first half, while Texas hit just 41.4 percent of its shots.

Balbay's four consecutive points to begin the final 20 minutes pulled the Longhorns within one.

Trailing 50-47, Texas scored eight straight points to take a 55-50 lead. Clint Chapman's slam topped off the spurt with 13;40 remaining. The Longhorns were able to maintain their lead the rest of the game.

Game Notes

Texas retired the No. 35 jersey of former Longhorn Kevin Durant at halftime. Durant, who spent only one season at Texas, was the national player of the year as a freshman in 2006-07...Texas Tech hit 10-of-24 three-pointers, while Texas went 4-of-14 from beyond the arc...The Longhorns grabbed 39 rebounds, compared to 29 for the Red Raiders...Texas owns a 70-53 lead in the series, including a 71-49 pasting earlier this season. Texas owns a 25-4 ledger against the Red Raiders since the formation of the Big 12 and it has won the last 13 meetings at the Erwin Center.

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

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