Buckeyes rout Gophers

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/18/2007 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Oden had 19 points and nine rebounds, as the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes routed the Minnesota Golden Gophers 85-67 at Williams Arena.

Ron Lewis added 16 points while Othello Hunter netted 15 for the Buckeyes (24-3, 12-1 Big Ten), who have won 11 straight games. Ivan Harris donated 14 in the win.

Ohio State looks to take over the No. 1 spot in the polls after Florida had its 17-game winning streak come to an end at Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Lawrence McKenzie poured in 22 points and Lawrence Westbrook scored 11 for the Golden Gophers (9-18, 3-10), who have lost five in a row.

A Westbrook free throw brought the Gophers within 26-24, but Ohio State netted 10 straight points on its way to a 15-5 run to close the half with a 43-31 margin. Minnesota went more than three minutes without scoring as well as turning the ball over five times to add fuel to the streak.

Mike Conley Jr. began the burst with a jumper before Jamar Butler's shot moments later pushed the lead to 10, 36-26.

The Gophers opened up the second half tallying nine of the first 13 points, narrowing the gap to 47-40, however, the Buckeyes countered with an 18-1 surge, highlighted by Lewis' offensive rebound and subsequent slam, extending the advantage to 65-41.

A pair of Westbrook layups brought Minnesota as close as 67-51 with almost eight minutes remaining but it never made a serious threat thereafter.

Dan Coleman's jumper put the Golden Gophers ahead 7-6, but the Buckeyes scored nine of the next 11 points, capped by Lewis' trey for a 17-8 margin.

Trailing 22-14, McKenzie took over and scored six straight to cut the deficit to 24-23.

Oden began the game slowly missing his first four shots while turning the ball over twice, but then went on to hit four of his next five shots from the floor before picking up his second foul with nearly 7 1/2 minutes to play in the first.

Game Notes

Ohio State leads all-time series 73-46...McKenzie scored 16 of Minnesota's 31 first-half points...The Buckeyes shot 49 percent from the field, including 7- of-16 from long distance, while the Gophers connected on 46 percent of their shots from the floor, including 11-of-22 from beyond the arc...Ohio State won the battle of the boards, 40-30...The Buckeyes welcome Penn State while Minnesota plays at Indiana on Wednesday.

Luckusurf NCAA Basketball Betting News

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

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Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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