Ark-Pine Bluff beats Winthrop in NCAA opener

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/17/2010 -

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -When it mattered most, Arkansas-Pine Bluff turned into kings of the road.

Losers of their first 11 games - all on the road - the Golden Lions turned their first trip to the NCAA tournament into one worth the extra packing. Allen Smith made clutch 3-pointers on a night when shots wouldn't go down easily, setting up a 61-44 victory over Winthrop in the opening game on Tuesday night.

The Golden Lions (18-15) will play Duke, the No. 1 seed in the South Regional, on Friday in Jacksonville, Fla.

``It seems like we play better on the road than we do at home because we're so used to being on the road,'' said center Lebaron Weathers said.

He wouldn't have said that a few months ago.

The Golden Lions spent the first two months playing some of the country's best teams on the road, going everywhere and getting nowhere. They lost at Colorado, Denver, Texas-El Paso, Akron, Arizona State, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Kansas State and Oregon, leaving them 0-11 heading into 2010.

Players cranked up their iPods and let their music soothe them during 13-hour bus rides across the heartland in November and December, ones that bonded them for much better things in March.

``We think it brought them together,'' coach George Ivory said. ``You've got to stay together on the road. You get to know each other better. You go through some bumps and bruises on the road, playing in some pretty tough places.''

The basketball equivalent of boot camp hardened them for a Southwestern Athletic Conference season that would be kinder. Their next destination is with history - a chance to pull off the unprecedented first-round upset of a No. 1 team.

Ivory knows a little bit about that. He was a star at Mississippi Valley State, which kept up with No. 1 Duke in 1986 before falling 85-78.

``You see Duke a lot on TV,'' Ivory said. ``You see them so much, it's kind of like you just know what they're going to do.''

The fast exit was familiar for Winthrop (19-14), which has made the tournament nine times in the last 12 years but has only one victory in all those tries.

Winthrop got the type of game it wanted, but couldn't make a shot as another tournament slipped away. Charles Corbin scored 13 points for the Eagles, who shot 29 percent from the field and went 2 of 21 behind the 3-point arc.

``We picked a bad time to have a bad game,'' coach Randy Peele said. ``We played really frustrated. I hadn't seen that from us for a while.''

Neither team shoots particularly well - no player averages more than 10 points for either one. Instead, they win with tight defense and rebounding. These mirror-image teams settled in to slog one out on the NCAA's big stage.

Smith put the game in the Golden Lions' hands by hitting a pair of 3s that helped Pine Bluff pull ahead 37-31 in the second half. Smith held up his right hand in the ``OK'' sign - three fingers extended - after connecting from the left corner and the top of the key.

Soon, the lead was up to 14 points and the Golden Lions knew they'd be headed for at least one more faraway place to play a top team.

This time, they're doing it with a smile.

``It just means a lot,'' Smith said. ``It feels great.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Wwmtv NCAA Basketball Betting News

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With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season.  What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season.  Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all.  Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13).  Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two.  Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury.  Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven.  Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.

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Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend.  Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend.  With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend.

MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:

Atlanta Hawks 1000-1

Boston Celtics 5000-1

Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1

Chicago Bulls 20-1

Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1

Dallas Mavericks 2-1

Denver Nuggets 25-1

Detroit Pistons 6-1

Golden State Warriors 250-1

Houston Rockets 12-1

Indiana Pacers 60-1

Los Angeles Clippers 45-1

Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1

Miami Heat 9-1

Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1

Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1

New Jersey Nets 50-1

New Orleans Hornets 150-1

New York Knicks 150-1

Orlando Magic 75-1

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Phoenix Suns 5-2

Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1

Sacramento Kings 250-1

San Antonio Spurs 9-1

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Toronto Raptors 35-1

Utah Jazz 20-1

Washington Wizards 25-1

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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