11/21/2008 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manny Harris scored 15 points, hit two big free throws in the waning seconds and blocked the potential tying shot at the end as Michigan upset fourth-ranked UCLA, 55-52, to reach the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
DeShawn Sims scored 18 for the Wolverines (3-0), who will take on Duke in the final Friday night. The Blue Devils beat Southern Illinois in the other semifinal.
Stu Douglass tallied 10 points for Michigan, which beat a ranked opponent on a neutral court for the first time since 1998.
Darren Collison and Jrue Holiday each scored 13 for the Bruins (2-1), while Nikola Dragovic scored 11 in defeat.
A Sims layup expanded Michigan to a 51-48 lead with 2 1/2 minutes left. The Wolverines could have essentially salted away the victory, but were whistled for a shot clock violation a minute later.
Josh Shipp then made 1-of-2 free throws with 56 seconds left, pulling the Bruins within two, but Sims jammed on a backdoor cut off a great bounce pass from Anthony Wright with 28.6 seconds remaining.
The Bruins then threw the ball out of bounds, but Sims missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and Dragovic nailed a three-pointer with five seconds left.
Harris sank two from the line less than a second later and then blocked Collison's potential tying shot at the end.
<< Big Ben plows Pittsburgh past Cincinnati
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ben Roethlisberger didn't let a bitter,
snowy night bother his throwing or running, totaling 243 yards passing with a
passing and rushing touchdown, as Pittsburgh methodically wore down
Cincinn
<< Flames edge Avs
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miikka Kiprusoff needed to make just 18 stops to
post his second shutout of the season as the Calgary Flames edged the Colorado
Avalanche, 1-0, at the Pepsi Center.
Daymond Langkow scored the only goal of the ga
<< Gators power past Southern Utah
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Calathes scored 18 points, grabbed
seven rebounds and dished out four assists to lead 18th-ranked Florida over
Southern Utah, 64-50, at the O'Connell Center.
Dan Werner added nine points for the
<< Dwyer leads Georgia Tech past Miami
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Dwyer rushed for 128 yards and a pair
of touchdowns, and Georgia Tech rolled up 472 yards on the ground in a 41-23
romp of 23rd-ranked Miami-Florida.
Quarterback Josh Nesbitt ran for 93 yards and
Kings cool off Capitals >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dustin Brown and Michal Handzus each had a
goal and an assist as the Los Angeles Kings beat Washington, 5-2, handing the
Capitals their first regular loss since November 1.
Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar an
Four share lead at Hong Kong Open >>
Hong Kong (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Louis Oosthuizen fired an eight-under 62 on
Friday to spotlight a four-way tie for the lead after the second round of the
Hong Kong Open.
Oliver Fisher (65), Chawalit Plaphol (66) and European Ryder Cup
Rockets face Wizards in D.C. >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets will try to get back on the winning
track this evening, when they kick off a three-game road trip against the
Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center.
Houston will also visit Orlando and Miami, and is
K.G. returns to Minnesota as Celtics face Timberwolves >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtics forward Kevin Garnett didn't get a chance to play
against his former team in Minnesota last season because of an abdominal
strain. Garnett has been back at full strength for quite some time now and
will lead Boston to
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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