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02/22/2012 - Blacksburg, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Scott had 20 points and nine rebounds on Tuesday, leading No. 25 Virginia to a 61-59 win over Virginia Tech.
Sammy Zeglinski and Jontel Evans both added 13 points for the Cavaliers (21-6, 8-5 ACC), who have rebounded from their first two-game slide of the season with back-to-back wins.
The Hokies (15-13, 4-9) were coming off of Saturday's 74-73 overtime win over Georgia Tech. They had a chance to tie or go in front on Tuesday, but Dorian Finney-Smith turned the ball over with four seconds to play.
Erick Green had a team-high 19 points in the setback.
Virginia Tech led by as many as nine late in the first half and was up 49-42 in the second when the Cavaliers scored 14 straight to take a lead they would not relinquish.
Zeglinski and Evans combined for the first 11 points of the burst before Scott scored in close and drew the foul. He completed the three-point play for a 56-49 advantage with just under five minutes to play.
Robert Brown stopped the surge with a pair of free throws, but Evans banked in a three-pointer late in the shot clock to give Virginia its largest lead of the game, 59-51, with 3:04 to play.
The Hokies, whose previous three games had been decided by a single point, didn't go easily, as three free throws from Green and one from Dorenzo Hudson made it 59-55.
Paul Jesperson responded with a tip-in before Green drove, finished a contested layup and drew the foul, marking Virginia Tech's first field goal in over 12 minutes. He made the ensuing free throw for a 61-58 game with 38 seconds left.
The Hokies fouled Akil Mitchell on each of Virginia's next two possessions. He missed the front end of a 1-and-1 both times. After the first miss, Green drew a foul and made 1-of-2 from the line.
After the second miss, Cadarian Raines dove to the floor for the rebound and signaled a Virginia Tech timeout with 17 seconds left. But Dorian Finney-Smith threw the ball away as the Hokies worked for an open shot and Malcolm Brogdon came up with the game-sealing steal.
Virginia Tech had built its first-half advantage behind a late 10-3 run. Hudson and Marquis Rankin both made three-pointers and Raines had a dunk and a layup to give the Hokies a 31-22 lead 3 1/2 minutes before the break.
Game Notes
Virginia Tech won the previous meeting between the teams this season, 47-45, on January 22...The Hokies lead the all-time series, 82-53...Virginia shot 59.5 percent from the field and made 6-of-15 three-pointers while Virginia Tech shot 45.0 percent and made 8-of-16 threes.
<< No. 1 Kentucky survives scare from Mississippi State
Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky was knocked around by Mississippi
State early, but the No. 1 Wildcats survived the test and overcame a 13-point
halftime deficit en route to a 73-64 victory to secure at least a share of the
SEC reg
<< Scott leads Virginia over Georgetown
Blacksburg, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Scott had 20 points and nine rebounds
on Tuesday, leading No. 25 Virginia to a 61-59 win over Virginia Tech.
Sammy Zeglinski and Jontel Evans both added 13 points for the Cavaliers (21-6,
8-5 ACC),
<< Michigan uses long ball to down Northwestern in OT
Evanston, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - No. 11 Michigan went 14-of-38 from long range,
hitting three in a row near the start of overtime to run away with a 67-55 win
over Northwestern on Tuesday.
Trey Burke led all scorers with 19 points, while Ti
<< Grizzlies send 76ers to fourth straight loss
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marc Gasol fill the stat sheet with 15 points,
14 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks, as Memphis started strong and beat
Philadelphia, 89-76, handing the 76ers their season-high fourth straight loss.
Rudy
Isner, Harrison move on in Memphis >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Americans John Isner and Ryan Harrison were
first-round winners at the $1.155 million Regions Morgan Keegan Championships
on Tuesday.
Isner, the tournament's top seed, defeated Gilles Muller 7-6 (7-1), 7-
Trail Blazers blow out shorthanded Spurs by 40 >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seven different Trail Blazers scored in double
figures, led by 21 from LaMarcus Aldridge, as Portland embarrassed San Antonio
137-97 at Rose Garden on Tuesday.
Jamal Crawford netted 20 points and handed ou
Green and Colorado State get past New Mexico >>
Fort Collins, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dorian Green scored 17 points and Pierce
Hornung finished with a double-double, as Colorado State knocked off No. 18
New Mexico, 71-63, at Moby Arena.
Hornung logged 13 points and 15 rebounds, while
FedEx extends sponsorship of FedExCup >>
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The PGA Tour and FedEx announced on
Wednesday a five-year extension of the company's sponsorship of the FedExCup.
The FedExCup is a year-long competition that began in 2007. This new deal will
keep
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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