Daily Sports Roundup
Saturday, February 13
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Flames play host to the Ducks, Tennessee meets Kentucky, and top-ranked Kansas goes up against Iowa State.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The lone ranked matchup on the college basketball schedule for Saturday has No. 12 Tennessee (18-5 SU, 9-10-1 ATS) at No. 3 Kentucky (23-1 SU, 11-11 ATS). The Volunteers will be in tough against the one-loss Wildcats on Saturday, and they'll also be looking to bounce back from a 90-71 loss to Vanderbilt in their last game; J.P. Prince had 19 points in that contest. The Wildcats managed to pick up a 66-55 win over Alabama in their last game on Tuesday night. John Wall had 22 points in that win for Kentucky, while DeMarcus Cousins scored 16 points.
Other games involving Top-10 teams on the college hardwood on Saturday: No. 10 Michigan State at Penn State, Maryland at No. 8 Duke, Providence at No. 4 Villanova, Iowa at No. 6 Purdue, Colorado at No. 9 Kansas State, and Iowa State at No. 1 Kansas. The top-ranked Jayhawks had no trouble with No. 9 Texas in their last game on Monday night, rolling to an 80-68 road win; Marcus Morris had 18 points in that contest. Kansas sits at 23-1 SU and 10-10-1 ATS on the season.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
As well, there are 11 games on tap around the National Hockey League on Saturday, including Anaheim at Calgary. The Ducks have won two straight games despite missing star forward Ryan Getzlaf (sprained ankle). Anaheim is coming off a 3-2 win over the Oilers on Wednesday night; Bobby Ryan scored twice for the Ducks in that game, while Jonas Hiller made 37 saves. The Flames have lost three in a row, most recently losing 3-1 to the Stars on Thursday night.
Also on the ice on Saturday: Tampa Bay at the Islanders, San Jose at Buffalo, Philadelphia at Montreal, Boston at Florida, New Jersey at Carolina, Ottawa at Detroit, Dallas at Phoenix, Atlanta at Chicago, Colorado at Los Angeles, and Washington at St. Louis. The previously-streaking Capitals have now lost two straight games, falling 6-5 to Montreal and Ottawa on Wednesday and Thursday. Caps goalie Semyon Varlamov returned from injury for Thursday's losing cause.
Today's Wagering Tips
Saturday, February 13
Lines off the board
Anaheim Ducks at Calgary Flames – Ryan Getzlaf (ankle) missed the team’s last game after getting injured on Monday and is questionable. Rene Bourque (back) has not played in the last two games and is questionable.
New Jersey Devils at Calgary Flames – Devils played Friday night and Zach Parise returned to action.
Dallas Stars at Phoenix Coyotes – Phoenix played Friday night. Jere Lehtinen (lower body) was injured last game and is questionable.
Colorado Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings – Jonathan Quick (flu) missed last game but is expected to play. Ryan O’Reilly (foot) is questionable.
Weather to watch
Steady showers are expected throughout the weekend for the Olympic Games in Vancouver with temperatures in the low to mid-40s. Another day of downhill skiing training was canceled because of the weather Friday, forcing Olympic organizers to postpone the women's super-combined event scheduled for Sunday.
The matchup between St. Peters and Loyola-Maryland scheduled to be played Friday night has been postponed due to the snowstorm that invaded the Mid-Atlantic this week. The game has been rescheduled for Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.
Who’s hot
The Phoenix Coyotes are 8-2 in their last 10 games, earning 8.66 units on the moneyline.
South Florida has covered six straight spreads and only one of those came as the favorite.
Who’s not
North Carolina is 2-8 SU and ATS in its last 10 games.
The Buffalo Sabres have dropped six straight games – four of those as favorites – losing 8.03 units on the moneyline.
Key stat
47-9 – Home record for SEC basketball teams in conference play this season. Georgia is laying 3 points to South Carolina on Saturday.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Tar Heels forward Ed Davis will be out at minimum six weeks after breaking his wrist in the loss to Duke on Wednesday. Davis is the team’s leading rebounder with 9.6 per game and ranks second on the team in scoring (13.4 ppg). His defensive prowess and shot-blocking abilities (64 blocks this season) will also be missed by North Carolina.
Games of the day
Philadelphia Flyers at Montreal Canadiens (+105, 5.5)
Anaheim Ducks at Calgary Flames
Notable quotable
"He jumps higher than me. He jumps higher than Michael (Jordan). He jumps higher than all of us…he's leaping through the roof."
-- Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said of his teammate Shannon Brown who will compete in the Slam Dunk contest on Saturday.
Tips and notes
- Suns GM Steve Kerr won the 3-point shooting contest in 1997 and thinks Channing Frye has a has a great chance to win the contest Saturday. Kerr said that “big strong guys” like Frye have an advantage because they don’t “have to use a lot of legs” which would preserve energy. Frye is +500 to win the event.
- Women’s hockey entered into the Olympic Games in 1998 and Canada has been the dominant team throughout. Eight teams will compete in this year’s tournament but only three have been given odds to win. Canada has won the last two gold medals and is the favorite (-285) with the USA (+215) and Sweden (+4550) as the other betting options.
- Isiah Thomas is a name that has crept up as a head coaching candidate for the Nets. Thomas is currently the coach at Florida International and the team seems to be playing inspired ball since the rumors of him leaving surfaced. The Panthers lost both games but only by two and four-point margins and covered the spread in each.