Daily Sports Roundup
Wednesday, December 30
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Sharks battle the Capitals, the Celtics try for a win in Phoenix, and the Wildcats and Cornhuskers meet in a bowl game.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
There are two bowl games on tap for Wednesday, with Bowling Green vs. Idaho in the Humanitarian Bowl, and No. 22 Arizona vs. No. 20 Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl. The Wildcats (8-4 SU, 6-5 ATS) slipped past USC 21-17 in their last game of the regular season, while the Cornhuskers (9-4 SU, 8-5 ATS) fell 13-12 to Texas last time out. The oddsmakers have Nebraska pegged as a 1-point favorite at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, with the total for the matchup at 41.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
There are 10 games around the NBA on Wednesday, with Charlotte at Toronto, Milwaukee at Orlando, Memphis at Indiana, Atlanta at Cleveland, New York at New Jersey, Utah at Minnesota, Miami at New Orleans, the Clippers at Portland, Philadelphia at Sacramento, and Boston at Phoenix. The Celtics (23-7 SU, 13-17 ATS) were beaten 103-99 in Golden State in their last game on Monday night, with Rajon Rondo scoring 30 points. The Suns (20-12 SU, 18-13-1 ATS) got past the Lakers 118-103 Monday night, as Amare Stoudemire was good for 26 points.
As well, ranked teams in action in college hoops on Wednesday include No. 10
Connecticut (at Cincinnati), No. 11 Michigan State (vs. Texas Arlington), No. 24 UAB (at Virginia), No. 18 Temple (at Northern Illinois), No. 25 Northwestern (at Illinois), and No. 9 North Carolina (vs. Albany). The Tar Heels (10-3 SU, 4-6 ATS) had no trouble taking care of Rutgers in their last game, cruising to an 81-67 victory behind 18 points from Dexter Strickland. North Carolina is 9-0 at home.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, the NHL offers up eight games on Wednesday, with Atlanta at Boston, Pittsburgh at New Jersey, Philadelphia at the Rangers, Colorado at Ottawa, Montreal at Tampa Bay, Los Angeles at Calgary, Toronto at Edmonton, and Washington at San Jose. The 24-9-6 Capitals were doubled up 6-3 by Carolina on Monday night, with Alex Ovechkin scoring his 26th of the season. The 24-8-7 Sharks have won five games in a row, topping Phoenix by a score of 3-2 on Monday night. Joe Pavelski potted the shootout winner for the Sharks in that win.
Today's Wagering Tips
Wednesday, December 30
Pack it in Pac-10
The Pac-10 conference dominated college football’s postseason last year after going undefeated in five bowl appearances, but 2009 has been a different story.
Oregon State and Cal suffered double-digit losses to Mountain West schools as 3-point favorites. USC prevailed over Boston College in the Pac-10’s first win of the bowl season, but didn’t look pretty doing it and was aided by some generous calls. And UCLA needed a miracle interception return for a touchdown with six minutes left in the game to defeat Temple.
Arizona will try to save some conference pride against Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl. The Wildcats faced some healthy early season opponents in Central Michigan and Iowa, but went 0-3 ATS in non-conference games.
The line for this game opened as a ‘pick’ but swung toward Arizona up to 1.5. The Cornhuskers have since picked up heavy steam and made them a 2.5-point favorite with a low total of 40.5. The under is 11-3 in Nebraska's last 14 games.
Great Scott!
Virginia will host the No. 24-ranked UAB Blazers on Wednesday and could possibly be without one of its primary producers for the fourth straight game.
Forward Mike Scott is first on the team in rebounding (9.3 rpg) and second in scoring (13.1 ppg), but has been battling a sprained ankle. The Cavaliers are 2-1 without Scott in the lineup, but the two wins were in non-lined games against Hampton and New Jersey Tech.
UAB is 11-1 and winners of 10 straight under former Indiana coach Mike Davis who in his fourth season with the team. The Blazers have covered in three consecutive games against formidable opponents in Butler, South Alabama and Cincinnati and are 7-3 ATS on the year.
Behind head coach Tony Bennett’s slow-paced and defensive ideology, a low total of 124 has been set for this affair. Virginia opened as 2-point favorites.
Son of a bench
Bucks head coach Scott Skiles wasn’t pleased with the performance of two of his star players Monday night. Guard Michael Redd and center Andrew Bogut watched the entire second half of a 94-84 loss to the Bobcats from the bench.
"It's not so much producing, it's body language and the way we look out there," Skiles said. "The bottom line: this is the NBA. You have to produce. And we need more consistent production out of our key players."
Carlos Delfino was also benched for the final two stanzas and it appears Skiles could stick with some of the lineup changes.
"We have defensive issues, no question," Skiles said. "And yet in the second half, with that group out there, we looked very good defensively. We're trying to find enough guys that will commit to that and we'll keep searching until we find it."
Milwaukee’s recent downward spiral is obviously affecting players’ motivation. The team has lost six of its last seven, going 3-4 ATS during that span.
Orlando has defeated the Bucks in seven straight home games and outscored Milwaukee by a 14.7 ppg margin in those contests. The Magic are 10.5-point favorites with a total of 193.
Roy-ale with cheese
Trail Blazers swingman Brandon Roy is doing all he can to keep his team afloat amidst a rash of injuries. The former Washington Huskie has scored 20-plus points in 13 straight games, which established an NBA record.
Portland has won six of their last eight, but are only 7-6 straight up and 6-6-1 ATS during Roy’s streak.
If Marcus Camby can get into the lineup for the Clippers on Wednesday, the visitors have a chance to upend the Blazers because of their lack of an inside presence. Portland was outscored 60-40 in the paint during a defeat to the Sixers on Monday. Chris Kaman and Camby could do some damage against Portland down low, but the latter is questionable after injuring his knee last Friday.
The Blazers have won and covered in the last three games of this series, but the Clips have cashed in three of the last four in Portland. The home team is favored by 7.5 with a total of 198.
Tyreke the Terrific
Kings point guard Tyreke Evans is the frontrunner for the Rookie of the Year award and the catalyst behind Sacramento’s surprising success this season. But the team got a big win over the Nuggets on Monday night without their king on the court.
Reports surfaced prior to the game that Evans would play, but a left ankle sprain kept him on the bench and head coach Paul Westphal said he would be questionable for Wednesday versus the Sixers.
Sac-Town is 11-5 straight up and 10-6 ATS at Arco Arena this season. The Kings are 17-7-1 ATS in their last 25 games overall. Evans has only missed one other game besides Monday and the Kings lost to the Rockets but covered as 11-point underdogs.
Notable Quotable
“It’s kind of like a quarterback rollout play. I break through the line. I’m running and right as he throws it, I jump and I knock the ball out and the ball lands in (defensive back) Corey Hall’s hands. He runs it back and we win off that play.”
-- Arizona Wilcats defensive tackle Donald Horton explaining the recurring dream he has where the winning play defeats the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Holiday Bowl.