Butler leads WVU over Hoyas

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/01/2010 - Morgantown, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Da'Sean Butler filled the stat sheet in his final game at WVU Coliseum, totaling 22 points, six rebounds and six assists to lead No. 10 West Virginia to an 81-68 victory over the struggling 19th-ranked Georgetown Hoyas.

The Mountaineers (23-6, 12-5 Big East) clinched a double-bye in the Big East Tournament with the win and currently sit in third place in the conference standings, a half-game ahead of Pittsburgh and a half-game behind the Villanova Wildcats, who they visit in the regular season finale on Saturday.

Devin Ebanks and Kevin Jones scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, for West Virginia, which received 11 points from Darryl Bryant in its fourth win in five games.

The Hoyas (19-9, 9-8), ranked eighth in the country just three weeks ago, have lost four of their last five, dropping them to seventh in the conference.

Austin Freeman, Georgetown's leading scorer at 17.0 ppg, did not dress because of a stomach virus, the same illness that forced him to play limited minutes in a 14-point home loss to Notre Dame on Saturday.

Greg Monroe and Chris Wright tallied 22 and 21 points, respectively, for the Hoyas, who committed 20 turnovers in the setback.

West Virginia expanded its three-point lead midway through the first half with a 13-3 run. Butler had six points on the spurt, which was capped by Bryant's finger-roll for a 27-14 advantage with seven minutes left.

The margin reached 41-21 on a Casey Mitchell three-pointer with two minutes remaining in the stanza.

Georgetown turned the ball over 12 times in the opening 20 minutes, leading to 14 points the other way en route to a 43-26 differential at the break.

The Hoyas failed to make any adjustments in the locker room, as they had four giveaways in the first three minutes of the second half. Jones fueled the subsequent 10-0 WVU flurry, with his jumper yielding a healthy 53-26 cushion.

A nine-point run for Georgetown a little later kept the Mountaineers on their toes, but the hosts still led comfortably until the final five minutes.

A Jason Clark bucket finished an 8-0 Georgetown spurt to get as close as 62-53, but Butler followed with two free throws and a contested layup to push the margin back to double-digits with 3 1/2 minutes to play.

The hosts led by at least 10 the rest of the way.

Game Notes

The Mountaineers finished 12-2 at WVU Coliseum this season, while the Hoyas went 6-5 in true road games...The Hoyas end their regular season at home against Cincinnati on Saturday...Monroe also had nine rebounds for the Hoyas, while Wright handed out seven assists and grabbed six caroms...West Virginia committed nine turnovers.

Wwwworldwidegamble NCAA Basketball Betting News

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.