Tisdale helps Illinois edge Wisconsin in Big Ten quarters

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Tisdale scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Illinois to a much-needed 58-54 victory over No. 13 Wisconsin in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

Demetri McCamey ended with 13 points and eight assists and D.J. Richardson added 12 points for the Fighting Illini (19-13), which had lost to Wisconsin, 72-57, in the regular season finale.

That was the fifth loss in six games for the fifth-seeded Illini, but they held Wisconsin to 28.6 percent shooting to advance to Saturday's semifinals against top-seeded Ohio State.

Jon Leuer and Trevon Hughes each netted 14 points for the fourth-seeded Badgers (23-8), who had a four-game winning streak snapped.

Hughes shot just 4-of-16 from the field but drained a trio of three-pointers in the final minute to pull Wisconsin within 56-54 with 31.4 seconds left.

After Jeff Jordan made 1-of-2 from the foul line to keep it a one-possession game, Jason Bohannon missed an open three from the right wing with Hughes having just fouled out.

Mike Davis, who finished with 10 points and 10 boards, came down with the long carom and made another freebie to seal the win and help Illinois' chances at gaining an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Wisconsin made just one field goal over the first six minutes of the game, allowing Illinois to take an 11-3 lead on a Davis field goal.

Leuer scored five straight to make it a three-point game, but that was as close as the Badgers got in the first half.

The Illini led 29-20 at the break and held the Badgers scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half, as Richardson's three provided a 34-20 lead.

Despite the horrid shooting effort, Wisconsin was within 46-38 with four minutes to go after Leuer capped an 8-0 run with a jumper.

After Bohannon missed a three in an attempt to make it a five-point game, McCamey drained one from behind the arc for some breathing room.

Davis' three-point play with just over a minute left gave Illinois a 54-45 lead before Hughes made things interesting.

Game Notes

Illinois and Wisconsin split the regular season series...The Illini shot 52.5 percent from the field but had 17 turnovers, compared to just five for Wisconsin...Hughes had five steals...Bohannon shot 1-for-10 from the field and ended with five points.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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