OVC action features 10th-ranked Racers at Skyhawks

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/04/2012 - Martin, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 10th-ranked Murray State Racers will try to remain the only unbeaten team in Division I as they head to Skyhawk Arena for an Ohio Valley Conference battle with the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks.

This will be the second meeting this season and 44th meeting in the all-time series between these programs. Murray State is 40-3 against the Skyhawks after its 78-54 victory on Dec 21st, 2011 in the conference opener for both teams.

The Racers had a scare on Thursday night as they trailed Southeast Missouri State by double digits in the second half, before Murray State changed the momentum with a 24-2 surge to escape with an 81-73 victory. Head coach Steve Prohm's debut season remains unblemished as his squad is 22-0 and 10-0 in OVC action. The Racers' victory over the Redhawks was powered by a strong 22-of-28 shooting performance from the charity stripe in the final 20 minutes. Murray State leads the OVC in many statistical categories, including scoring offense (75.7), scoring defense (61.5), three-point percentage (41.7), and steals (8.8).

Isaiah Canaan scored 24 of his 32 points after halftime, including 15 during the crucial 24-2 run to keep the Racers' percent record intact. Canaan has been stellar all season and carries in team-high averages of 19.3 points and 3.7 assists per game into tonight's bout. Devon Poole is second on the team in scoring with an average of 14.5 ppg on 45.4 percent shooting from the field. Ivan Aska recently returned to action after being sidelined with injury for six games. Aska contributed a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds in Thursday night's comeback victory.

Tennessee-Martin is opposite Murray State in the OVC standings, as it carries an 0-11 league record. The Skyhawks have lost 12 straight games and 16 straight games against Division I opponents. Most recently, UTM lost 85-74 to Jacksonville State which dropped its overall record to 3-21. Head coach Jason James has seen his team be outscored by an average of 11.7 points per game this season. The Racers should not have too much trouble against the Skyhawks' defense, which is allowing opponents to connect on 51.1 percent of their field goals this season.

Mike Liabo is pacing the Skyhawks with team-best averages of 15.2 points and 2,8 assists per game. Liabo has been consistent, as he has scored in double- figures in all but one of his appearances this season. Myles Taylor is second on the team in scoring (12.7 ppg) and first in rebounding (4.8 rpg). The freshman forward scored a team-high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor in UTM's recent loss to Jacksonville State.

Wwlooksmart NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Top-ranked Wildcats collide with Gamecocks in Columbia
Columbia, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams at opposite ends of the SEC spectrum meet up in Columbia this evening, as the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats take on the South Carolina Gamecocks at the Colonial Life Center. John Calipari's Wildcats h

<< No.5 UNC takes on Maryland in College Park
College Park, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels play their fourth road game in the last six outings, as they head to College Park for an ACC showdown with the Maryland Terrapins. Roy Williams' Tar Heels are sitt

<< Irish set sights on Golden Eagles
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles continue their push towards the top of the Big East standings, as the begin a two-game road trip this afternoon, taking on a dangerous Notre Dame team at the Joyce Center

<< Marquee matchup pits Jayhawks against Tigers
Columbia, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The most anticipated game in the Big 12 has finally arrived, as top-10 foes Kansas and Missouri collide in Columbia, with positioning atop the conference standings at stake. The eighth-ranked Jayhawks lead the

<< Sixth-ranked Bears battle Cowboys in Big 12 affair
Stillwater, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sixth-ranked Baylor Bears will attempt to stay within striking distance in the Big 12 Conference, as they invade Stillwater this afternoon for a conference matchup with the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gallagh

TCU seeks upset of No. 17 San Diego State >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sharing the top spot in the Mountain West Conference standings with 11th-ranked UNLV, the 17th-ranked San Diego State Aztecs try to keep moving in the right direction tonight as they host the TCU Horned Frogs at

Rebels and Pokes duke it out in Mountain West showdown >>
Laramie, WY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tied with San Diego State atop the Mountain West Conference standings, the 11th-ranked UNLV Runnin' Rebels are again out on the road this afternoon as they tangle with the Wyoming Cowboys at Arena Auditorium in La

Syracuse and St. John's meet in Empire State showdown >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-ranked Syracuse Orange square off with the St. John's Red Storm this afternoon in a Big East Conference clash from New York's famed Madison Square Garden. Syracuse has won 22 of its first 23 games t

Top-25 foes tangle in Tallahassee >>
Tallahassee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of top-25 teams meet up in Tallahassee this afternoon, as the 21st-ranked Florida State Seminoles and 16th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers take care of some ACC business at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Le

A top-25 SEC showdown on tap in Gainesville >>
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-25 foes collide in Gainesville this afternoon, as the 12th-ranked Florida Gators play host to the 25th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores in an SEC affair at the O'Connell Center. Billy Donovan's Gators are p

Police report: Terrell Owens hospitalized after attempt

Terrell Owens will address the media at a 3:15 p.m. ET news conference outside the Cowboys' practice facility after an internal police report indicated he tried to kill himself by overdosing on prescription pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after a friend intervened.

The Dallas police report said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"

Owens left the hospital late Wednesday morning, giving reporters a "thumbs up" but making no comment as he was driven away in an SUV.

Michael Irvin said that Owens denied he attempted suicide and said he was rushed to the hospital as a result of an adverse reaction to medication. And a source close to Owens told Michael A. Smith that Owens wasn't attempting suicide.

NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders said he spoke with Owens shortly before his release from the hospital and that Owens was in good spirits.

"The fact that it has been reported a suicide attempt, he's laughed at that notion. It was a case that medication that was taken wasn't accepted well in his system with the other vitamins he's on," Sanders said.

The series of events began a little before 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Owens' publicist, Kim Etheredge, said she was at Owens' home when he took pain medicine for his broken right hand. Concerned by how he began acting, Etheredge said in various interviews Wednesday with Dallas-area media that she called 911. Owens was taken to a hospital, with Etheredge saying it was an allergic reaction to the medicine.

But early Wednesday, several media outlets received a police report -- that had yet to be released by the authorities -- saying Owens had attempted suicide by overdosing on the painkillers, even putting two more pills into his mouth after an unidentified friend intervened.

The police document, first reported by WFAA-TV, said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"

When officially released by police, about half the document was blacked out, including the phrases "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication" and "a drug overdose," as well as the details of Owens having two pills pried from his mouth and Owens saying "Yes" when asked if he intended to harm himself.

Etheredge, who said she was the friend cited in the police document, told Dallas-area media Wednesday that the police got the story wrong.

The tape of the 911 call could help clear things up. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get its contents, but fire department officials said it would not be available before late Wednesday.

The police report said the 32-year-old Owens told his friend "that he was depressed." Details of the police report were first reported by WFAA-TV.

The friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said.

Using her fingers, the friend attempted to pry them out of Owens' mouth. Owens told police he had taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied before the incident.

Etheredge told the Star-Telegram that Owens was "fine."

Etheredge said she called 911 because Owens was groggy and lethargic. After taking some supplements "it kicked in a reaction" with the painkillers, she told the Star-Telegram.

"Here's a person whose body is so clean, it really had a negative reaction to the medication and supplements he was taking," Etheridge told The Morning News. "Thank goodness someone was there to call an ambulance."

Police Lt. Rick Watson said he could only confirm that paramedics called police to say they were taking Owens to the hospital. He said no more details would come from the police because no laws were broken.

It is not a crime in Texas for a person to attempt suicide.

"This is a high-profile person. We looked into it and we determined it is not a criminal offense," Watson said. "This a medical type of situation that occurred."

Watson and fire department spokesman Joel Lavender cited privacy laws for the lack of information they could provide. Lavender said more details could come from the 911 call. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get the contents of the call.

"Let's just look at the tape, review the tape," Lavender said. "I'll give you an honest answer once I know something."

At the police news conference, Watson released a version of the police narrative with certain sections blacked out. The full report was obtained by several news outlets and reported first by WFAA. The AP received the full version from WFAA.

According to the police report, Dallas Fire and Rescue was called regarding someone "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication." Officers arrived to find Owens being stabilized by ambulance workers, who then took him to Baylor University Medical Center.

Owens was hospitalized late Tuesday because of what his publicist said was an allergic reaction to pain medicine he was taking for a broken hand. Doctors reportedly tried to induce vomiting.

Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it.

When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill -- who mostly deals with troubled players -- said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems.

He missed most of training camp, and three of four preseason games, because of a hamstring injury. He was late for work during his recovery and was fined for it, but Owens laughed it off, saying he overslept. He said it had happened before, though not with Dallas, and would probably happen again.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger during a game a week ago Sunday. The next day, doctors screwed in a plate so the bone could heal without fear of further damage. Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said last week that the pain medicine made Owens ill.

Owens had not practiced since the injury, but because Dallas had a bye this past weekend he did not miss a game. He was expected to practice Wednesday, and Parcells had said there was a chance Owens could play Sunday against Tennessee.

Owens had been especially looking forward to the Cowboys' game after that -- Oct. 8, in Philadelphia, against the team that dumped him midway through last season only months after he helped them nearly win the Super Bowl.

Owens was seen laughing and joking on the practice field Tuesday morning. He chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room in the afternoon and seemed fine. A 2-inch scar on the top of his hand was puffy but not wrapped, and he said the swelling was doing down.

While in the locker room, he took a pill from a white paper bag and looked at another medicine bottle that was in the bag. He also called a business partner about a towel-wrap venture they're starting and joked to TV cameras that he wasn't talking until Wednesday and it was only Tuesday.

"My little boy knows better than that," he said, laughing, as he plopped onto a sofa in the middle of the locker room.

Also Tuesday, Owens was involved in launching a national campaign for the National Alliance to End Abuse, an organization aimed at helping at-risk youngsters. He appeared at a high school Tuesday morning and was scheduled to visit others but had to cancel because of changes in the team's practice schedule.

Owens has played two games for the Cowboys, catching nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. For updated football betting lines and Dallas Cowboy Superbowl odds visit online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your VISA Sportsbook needs.

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.