Ailing Tar Heels rip Wildcats

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2007 - Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Deon Thompson and Alex Stepheson stepped up for the ill Brandon Wright, scoring 14 and 10 points respectively, as fourth- ranked North Carolina handed No. 17 Arizona its worse home loss in the Lute Olsen era, 92-64, at the McKale Center.

Wright and Marcus Ginyard became ill at the team hotel Friday night, then their Tar Heel teammates went out and inflicted their will on the Wildcats.

Ty Lawson, one game after scoring 14 second-half points in a rout of Wake Forest, poured in a career-high 18 points and dished out eight assists while Wayne Ellington and Tyler Hansbrough added 14 points apiece.

Hansbrough scored a dozen of his points in the second half, as North Carolina (19-2) won its fourth straight in preparation for the first of two meetings with Duke on February 7. First, the Tar Heels have a home date with Miami- Florida and travel down the road to face North Carolina State.

Freshman Chase Budinger led Arizona (14-6) with 16 points, Mustafa Shakur tallied 15 points and Jordan Hill contributed 13 points. The Wildcats have lost four of five.

An early start -- 11 a.m. (mt) in Tucson -- and a ravaging North Carolina defense stifled Arizona's perimeter game. The Wildcats made their first three-pointer with 2:09 left in the game, finishing 1-of-23 over 40 minutes.

Even without their second leading scorer and top defensive stopper, the Tar Heels came at the Wildcats in waves over the first half. A team noted for scoring -- even though it places second in the NCAA in defensive efficiency -- held the Wildcats without a field goal over the half's final six minutes and forced them to 0-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Tar Heels built their comfortable edge behind a 22-5 spurt to close the first 20 minutes. They did it with negligible offensive numbers from Hansbrough, who scored just two points and didn't make a field goal.

Lawson's acrobatic layup under the arms of two Wildcat defenders with 1:01 left gave UNC a 41-23 edge. The point guard swiped an in-bounds pass and raced the length of the floor moments later to gave the Tar Heels a 43-23 lead.

North Carolina held a 43-25 advantage at intermission thanks to Lawson's 14 points and 14 combined points from Wright's two replacements, Stepheson and Thompson.

The Wildcats came out of the gates strong in the second half, pulling within 50-37 on Ivan Radenovic's three-point play with just over 15 minutes to play.

The Tar Heels responded with 11 consecutive points to take control. Stepheson's inside bucket capped the spurt with 11:33 on the clock.

North Carolina cruised from to victory there.

Game Notes

North Carolina throttled Arizona, 86-69, in Chapel Hill last season...The loss snapped Arizona's 29-game home winning streak against non-conference foes, the fourth-longest in the nation...All of Budinger's points came in the second half...Arizona went nearly seven minutes without a field goal in the second half..Olson's worst home loss before Saturday was a 12-point defeat at the hands of Tennessee on December 23, 1983, his first season at the helm...Reyshawn Terry had 15 points in the victory...Radenovic tallied 12 points.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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Terrell Owens could return for Cowboys next game
A bye week will allow Terrell Owens broken hand to recover just in time for the next game the Dallas Cowboys are slated to play, according to reports. MySportsbook.com, an football sportsbook, has posted football betting lines on TO playing.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger Sunday night and had a plate surgically attached to it Monday. Although Owens' hand was swollen and aching Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said he's optimistic the receiver will be back at work next week and catching passes a week from Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

MySportsbook.com online sportsbook listed Terrell Owens with odds of 7-2 (or $7 paid out for every $2 bet) to return back for the game against Tennessee.

"I certainly wouldn't rule it out now," Parcells said, referring to Terrell Owens immediate return. "Maybe five days from now I might, but I wouldn't rule it out now. ... I know we're looking to try to get him moving around pretty good in the next day or so. So we'll see where we are."

Owens did not speak with reporters Wednesday, but said Sunday he'd be out two to four weeks. A return against the Titans would be 13 days after the surgery. The Cowboys were listed as an early -7 1/2 favorite vs. the Tennessee Titans for Week 4 at MySportsbook.com

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