January 10, 2007 - SPORTS NEWS - SPECIAL EDITION MARCH MADNESS COLLEGE BASKETBALL SPORTS NEWS

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (covers.com): bettors not ready to crown va tech. Before we crown Virginia Tech as the team to beat in the ACC, or the sports bettors’ champion, or even a tournament-quality team, let’s step back and review its wins over ACC powerhouses Duke and North Carolina. While downing the top two basketball schools in the nation is an impressive feat, college hoops bettors shouldn’t be so quick to jump on the Hokies bandwagon. Books will likely hand them some extra points against Florida State this Wednesday and the public perception could end up causing some discrepancies in the pointspread. "Odds are they will be asked to lay a pretty decent number at FSU later this week," says Shawn Torrey of Covers Experts. "That is going to be hard for Tech to match their recent intensity level. They are certainly capable of grabbing the win in this contest, but I’d be very careful about laying too many points." Both victories revealed Virginia Tech’s strengths, but also gave sharp bettors some insight on how to play against the Hokies as the year goes on. First, we shouldn’t be in awe of the 69-67 overtime squeaker against the Blue Devils as 8 ½-point underdogs. Winning in Cameron is a tough task for any ACC team, but beating this year’s edition of the Blue Devils isn`t stopping the presses anymore. Duke doesn’t have the quality athletes it has had in years past and has struggled on offense without a game-breaking scorer. Last year the Blue Devils needed a final-second prayer from Sean Dockery to book a 77-75 win over the Hokies as 21-point home favorites. In the UNC game, Virginia Tech took full advantage of an inconsistent performance from a young Tar Heels squad, which finished the game shooting 8-for-26 from beyond the arc and just 55 percent from the foul line. Meanwhile, the Hokies had the hot hand at home, shooting over 50 percent from inside and out. You do have to give credit where credit is due and the Hokies’ senior backcourt combo of Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon proved that experience is more valuable than talent. The two guards combined for 40 points, nine assists and only seven turnovers while holding one of the country’s most explosive backcourts in check. But a late collapse by the Hokies that allowed the Tar Heels to climb back from more than 20 points down showed the team’s inability to knock teams out when they have them on the ropes. "This definitely could be a trouble spot for the Hokies," says Scott Rickenbach of Covers Experts. "The Hokies still may struggle with the killer instinct needed to put a team away, playing the Seminoles at Florida State we could see that become a key factor." The Noles don’t pack the same threat as Duke or North Carolina, but have proven to be competitive this season. Florida State has played a tough early schedule against Top 25 teams like Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, UNC and Clemson and has a win over the defending national champion Florida Gators. "This is great news if you’re a Hokies fan," Torrey says of carrying Virginia Tech’s wins into the FSU game. "However, as a bettor you have to believe that all the hype they’ve received over the past few days is only going to be cause for over-inflation as far as the line goes.

NCAA BASKETBALL PICKS: (associated press): arkansas backers wait on point guard. Arkansas` Gary Ervin remained sidelined with an injured ankle Monday, and coach Stan Heath said he didn`t know whether the point guard will be able to play in the Razorbacks` game against Georgia on Wednesday. Books have the Razorbacks listed as 5 1/2-point faves and the total is set at 141 1/2. "He could not go today. He tried a few layups and that was it," Heath said. "We want Gary to be healthy, but it forced us to get other guys involved (in practice) and that may not be so bad." If Ervin is unable to play, either Sean McCurdy or Patrick Beverley will take over as point guard, Heath said. The Razorbacks (12-5, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) host Georgia at 8:05 p.m. Wednesday. Arkansas is fresh off a disappointing two-point loss to Mississippi on Saturday. "Tuesday is the pivotal day. If (Ervin) can`t practice, I wouldn`t expect him to play at all," Heath said. "He`s disappointed in the way he played on Saturday and wants to be out there. If he`s 60 to 70 percent on Tuesday, he could be 70 to 80 percent on Wednesday." Heath called Georgia (10-5, 2-1) "the most improved team in the league." "Their backcourt is experienced with Levi Stukes, Mike Mercer, Sundiata Gaines and Billy Humphrey," Heath said. "They shoot the ball very well in transition. The addition of some frontcourt players has made them more balanced." Despite conference losses to Ole Miss and No. 1 Florida, Heath said the Razorbacks still have a shot at doing well in their division. "We have a lot of basketball in front of us. The (SEC) West is wild," Heath said. "We dropped two games and we`re only a game out of first. We need to make up a win somewhere down the road where it may be a little unexpected. "We need to totally eliminate the taste we just had (from the Ole Miss game). We need to be an angry team when we step on the floor."

NCAA BASKETBALL FREE PICKS- (associated press): former arizona guard transfers. Former Arizona guard J.P. Prince is transferring to Tennessee and will be eligible to play for the 22nd-ranked Volunteers next season, athletic officials announced Tuesday. Prince, a 6-foot-6 freshman originally from Memphis, averaged 2.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 28 games last season for No. 11 Arizona. Prince, a cousin of Tayshaun Prince of the Detroit Pistons, announced he was leaving Arizona in December, after weeks of not practicing with the team and an undisclosed illness. "My focus is on getting healthy and maintaining my academics," he said in a statement released last month by Arizona. "The health problems I dealt with last spring have kept me from performing at the level needed here at Arizona. Right now I just want to get back home and get better physically." He helped White Station High School to three state championships and a 142-12 record. In 2005 he was selected Tennessee's Gatorade player of the year with averages of 27.0 points, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game. "We are very excited about J.P. Prince coming back to the state of Tennessee," coach Bruce Pearl said in a statement. "… Our style of play should enable him to reach his full potential." Prince can begin practicing with the team immediately.

NCAA BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press): oklahoma center suspended for elbowing incident. Oklahoma center Longar Longar was suspended for two games Friday by the Big 12 Conference for elbowing Texas Tech's Esmir Rizvic during a game last week.

Rizvic's eye socket was fractured as a result of the contact, which occurred as Longar tried to create room against Rizvic's pressing defense along the sideline.

Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg ruled that Longar's move violated the conference's principles and standards of sportsmanship.

"On the play, Mr. Longar leads with a high elbow as he pivots after catching an inbound pass. His elbow made severe and excessive contact with the face of the Texas Tech player causing significant injury," Weiberg said in a statement. "While I do not believe Mr. Longar intended to cause serious injury, and he has no prior history of this kind of incident, I view this as a dangerous and unacceptable play. Therefore, a suspension from competition is warranted.

"We simply must convey a message that this kind of play will not be condoned."

Longar will miss Oklahoma's games at Texas on Saturday and at home against Nebraska on Wednesday. Oklahoma appealed the decision, and it was upheld by the Big 12's sportsmanship appeal board.

"We all regret that an injury occurred in this situation and continue to wish a full and quick recovery to Esmir Rizvic. At the same time, we are very disappointed in the Big 12 Conference decision as it relates to Longar," Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said.

"We strongly support Longar and our team and utilized every avenue available to us, including an appeal, to the fullest extent. We strenuously disagree that suspension from

NCAA COLLEGE BASKETBALL FREE PICKS- (associated press): tenneesee guard to transfer to nc state. Tennessee reserve guard Marques Johnson has transferred to North Carolina State, Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe said Thursday. Johnson, a freshman, has enrolled in classes and will be eligible to play for the Wolfpack at the conclusion of the fall 2007 semester. Johnson averaged 2 points in about 11 minutes per game for Tennessee. The depth-challenged Wolfpack (10-6, 0-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) played only six players until the final minute of their loss to Clemson (No. 14 ESPN/USA Today, No. 17 AP) earlier this week. Point guard Engin Atsur has missed 10 of 11 games with a nagging hamstring injury.

NCAA COLLEGE BASKETBALL FREE PICKS: (espn.com): uconn falls out of coaches poll for 1st tine in 10 years. One regular bowed out and a stranger stepped into the Top 25 in the latest ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll. Connecticut, which had been a fixture in the coaches' poll since 2003, dropped out of the rankings for the first time since 2003, and Virginia Tech made its first appearance in the poll since 1996. The Huskies (13-3) fell out after losing to Marquette in Storrs on Wednesday. The Hokies (13-4) jumped into the No. 25 spot after their 94-88 upset of then-No. 1 North Carolina (15-2) on Saturday. Virginia Tech is off to a 3-0 start in the ACC and already has wins over the Tar Heels and No. 17 Duke. The top five also was shaken up. North Carolina fell to No. 4 after the loss to the Hokies, which allowed Florida (16-2) to move back into the top spot. UCLA (15-1) inched up to No. 2, with Wisconsin (17-1) right behind at No. 3. Kansas (15-2) reclaimed a spot in the top five, rounding it out after wins over No. 14 Oklahoma State (15-2) and Iowa State. Pittsburgh (16-2) moved up to No. 6. Ohio State (14-3) fell to No. 7 after a 73-69 loss at Wisconsin on Tuesday. Texas A&M (15-2) followed at No. 8, and Alabama (14-2) moved up to No. 9. Oregon (17-1) enjoyed the largest jump, shooting up seven spots to No. 10 after a 79-77 win at Arizona on Sunday. No. 11 Air Force (17-1), No. 12 Arizona (13-3), No. 13 Nevada (16-1), Oklahoma State and No. 15 Butler (15-2) came next. Clemson (17-1) dropped just two spots to No. 16 after suffering its first defeat of the season -- a 92-87 loss at new No. 22 Maryland on Saturday. Duke (14-3), which fell six places, was followed by No. 18 Memphis (13-3), No. 19 LSU (12-4) and No. 20 Notre Dame (15-2). Washington State (15-3) moved up to No. 21, with Maryland (15-3) right behind. No. 23 Texas (13-3), No. 24 Tennessee (13-4) and Virginia Tech round out the poll. FREE COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (covers.com): top ten ats teams as of 1/17/07. 1 West Virginia 2 Idaho State 3 Manhattan 4 Indiana St. 5 Davidson 6 Tulsa 7 Buffalo 8 Southern California 9 Weber St. 10 Southern Mississippi

FREE COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press.com) utah upsets no.11 air force. The way Utah was shooting, no winning streak was safe. The Utes ended Air Force's (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today; No. 13 AP) 13-game winning streak by shooting 70.7 percent in their 85-79 upset of the Falcons on Tuesday night. Utah won for the first time in nearly a month and stopped a six-game losing streak, the school's longest slide since 1950. "It really wouldn't have mattered who it was tonight. We needed to find a way to get a win. It just happened to be Air Force," Utah coach Ray Giacoletti said. Luke Nevill had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Johnnie Bryant scored 18 points for the Utes, who shot 68 percent in the first half and then topped that off with an even better performance over the final 20 minutes. "We just all stayed together," said Utah's Shaun Green, who had 15 points and was one of five Utes to score in double figures. Utah (6-12, 1-4 Mountain West) made 11 straight free throws down the stretch to hold off every rally the Falcons (17-2, 4-1) attempted. When it was finally over, Bryant heaved the ball straight up in the air and celebrated Utah's first victory since Dec. 20. "I'm just happy for these kids that we could kind of get it off our back and hopefully get a good roll started," Giacoletti said. Air Force was tied with No. 2 Wisconsin for the longest winning streak in Division I, but the Falcons never led Tuesday night. "The last three games, including this one, we have gotten off to horrendous starts," Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "We must understand that we will take everybody's best punch. We have not understood that yet and it caught up with us today." Jacob Burtschi had 21 points and Dan Nwaelele added 20 for the Falcons, who didn't have enough to overcome Utah's almost-perfect shooting. After Nwaelele got the Falcons within 78-72 on a layup, Ricky Johns made two free throws with a minute left, then the Utes broke the press and got the ball to Nevill for a two-handed dunk that all but sealed it. "We can score pretty much all the time whenever we need to. It was pretty much a matter of stopping them from scoring," Nevill said after his seventh double-double of the season. It was Air Force's first loss since Nov. 10, when Duke beat the Falcons 71-56. The winning streak was tied for the longest in school history. Utah committed 13 turnovers in the first half, but compensated by going 13-for-19 from the field -- 5-of-8 on 3-pointers -- and holding the Falcons to 36 percent shooting. The Utes were even better in the second half, going 16-for-22. When Nevill wasn't getting an easy dunk or layup, the Utes were passing the ball around the perimeter and keeping the Falcons scrambling. "The key is, they've got to come help or double and if you make a couple extra passes somebody's going to shoot an open look," Giacoletti said. "There's a big difference between shooting the ball with a hand in your face and an open look." Air Force added a couple of late 3s to make it closer at the end, but didn't have the time to complete another comeback like the Falcons did Saturday in a 58-56 win at Wyoming on a buzzer-beater by Burtschi. Air Force, which shot 48 percent, scored three points on five straight possessions late in the second half, getting either a 3-pointer or three-point play. But each time the Falcons made a run Utah did just enough to hold them off. Bryant and Green each hit 3-pointers after Air Force had gotten within five points and the Utes were able to seal it from the line after the Falcons had to foul at the end. COLLEGE BASKETBALL FREE PICKS: (associated press) tennessee try's to avoid skid. Coming off two heartbreaking defeats, Tennessee looks to avoid giving Bruce Pearl the first three-game losing streak of his coaching career when the Vols return to SEC play Wednesday night against Auburn. Oddsmakers have the Vols listed as 4 1/2-point faves and the total is set at 153. The No. 24 Vols (13-3, 1-1) are in the midst of a tough three-game road stretch. It hasn`t gone well, as Tennessee fell 82-81 at Vanderbilt last Wednesday on Shan Foster`s putback as time expired, and followed up that loss with a 68-66 defeat to then-No. 5 Ohio State on Saturday. The Vols lost when Ron Lewis hit a 3-pointer with 11.2 seconds remaining. Chris Lofton, the SEC`s leading scorer, gave Tennessee a chance to win by scoring 23 points, including eight of his team`s final nine. The Vols had a chance to answer Lewis` basket on an off-balance shot by Ramar Smith, but he missed with three seconds left. "Ramar`s good at taking it to the basket. He got a decent look," said Pearl, whose team is in the midst of playing five of six games on the road. "And his head was up - maybe someone leaves a shooter (open) and we make the shot." Pearl has been a head coach for 15 seasons with three teams - two with the Vols - and has never suffered three consecutive losses. Tennessee dropped two in a row on Nov. 22 and 24, but responded with nine consecutive victories before its latest two-game skid. For the Vols to avoid a third straight defeat, they`ll have to beat Auburn at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum, where they are 2-4 in their last six visits. Tennessee, which hasn`t dropped three in a row since Feb. 9-Feb. 19, 2005, is 1-2 on the road this season. The Vols, though, have won seven of the last nine overall meetings with Auburn (11-7, 1-2). Tennessee is shooting 45.4 percent from the field, but against the Buckeyes shot 39.1 percent (27-for-69) , including an abysmal 7-for-31 (22.6) from 3-point range. The Vols were also 5-of-11 from the free-throw line. Auburn will be trying for the fifth time to beat a ranked team this season. The Tigers again failed to knock off a Top 25 opponent Saturday, falling 65-63 at then-No. 13 LSU. Despite shooting just 39.3 percent for the game and going 5-of-18 on 3-pointers, the Tigers forced 10 turnovers in the first half and took a four-point lead at the break. LSU, though, went up for good with 7:42 remaining in the game on Glen Davis` jumper. Auburn had a chance to win, but Kelvin Lewis` 3-pointer rattled out with three seconds left as the Tigers suffered their second straight loss. "We kept our poise and played with some toughness," coach Jeff Lebo said. "We had a shot to win and I thought that thing was halfway down when it came out. That`s the best we`ve played on the road against a high-level league team." Rasheem Barrett, who leads Auburn with 12.8 points per game, finished with 18, while Quan Prowell added 12 in his second start of the season. The Tigers have shot a combined 33.1 percent from the floor in the last two losses, while allowing opponents to shoot 48.1 percent. They`re going up against a Tennessee team that`s one of SEC`s most potent offensively, as the Vols average 84.5 points - among the top 10 in the nation. NCAA BASKETBALL PICKS: (associated press): maryland woes continue after loss to virginia. Mamadi Diane scored a career-high 26 points and Sean Singletary added 25 and seven assists Tuesday night to lead Virginia past No. 22 Maryland 103-91, ending the Cavaliers' three-game losing streak. Virginia (10-6, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) blew a 20-point first half lead, allowing Maryland to close to within three early in the second half. But the Cavs scored 12 straight to make it 70-55 with 9:50 remaining, and from there the Terrapins (15-4, 1-3) couldn't get closer than eight. Mike Jones led Maryland with 18 points. Greivis Vazquez made five 3-pointers and scored 17. Ekene Ibekwe also had 17 before fouling out in the closing minute. Two free throws by Ibekwe pulled the Terps to within 58-55 with 14:36 to play. After Virginia turned the ball over on a 10-second violation, Maryland also turned it over and Jamil Tucker hit his third 3-pointer in as many tries for the Cavaliers. Maryland turned the ball over three more times and missed all five of its shots over the next four-plus minutes, allowing Virginia to rebuild its advantage. A dunk by Jason Cain gave Virginia a 50-30 lead with 2:45 left in the first half, but then the Cavaliers self-destructed, turning the ball over on four straight possessions. The Terps scored the last 13 points of the period, with Vasquez making all of his eight first half points in 30 seconds. The Cavaliers were 18 of 23 at the free throw line in the first, compared to 5-for-9 for Maryland. Four of the Terps' starters spent much of the second half in foul trouble. J.R. Reynolds scored 17 for Virginia -- 11 from the free throw line. Cain finished with 13 points and 16 rebounds. Virginia avoided its first four game losing streak under coach Dave Leitao. Maryland came in having won six of its last seven and had beaten Clemson in its last game Saturday, ending the Tigers' run as the last unbeaten Division I school.