Turner, Buckeyes drop Illini in 2-OT to reach Big Ten final

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evan Turner continues to steal the show in Big Ten Tournament, scoring 11 of his game-high 31 points in a pair of overtime sessions to lead No. 5 Ohio State to an exciting, 88-81, victory over Illinois to advance to the conference finals.

Turner, who drained a 37-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to beat Michigan on Friday, also had 10 rebounds and six assists, though he did turn the ball over 10 times and fouled out in the second OT.

The top-seeded Buckeyes (26-7) have won six straight and will next play the winner of the Purdue/Minnesota matchup.

William Buford chipped in 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Jon Diebler and David Lighty netted 14 and 12 points, respectively, for Ohio State.

Illinois (19-14) had chances at the end of regulation and first overtime to win the game but failed to get a shot off on each occasion.

Demetri McCamey posted 22 points, D.J. Richardson scored 15 and Mike Davis contributed 13 points and 18 rebounds for the Fighting Illini, who knocked off Wisconsin in the quarterfinals on Friday to pad its precarious NCAA Tournament resume.

Down 50-39 in the second half, Turner and Diebler fueled a 20-point rally that appeared to knock the air out of Illinois. Buford's three-pointer at the eight-minute mark capped the spurt for a 59-50 cushion.

Mike Tisdale ended Illinois' seven-plus-minute scoreless stretch with two free throws, and McCamey's floater made it a one-possession game, 59-56, with 4 1/2 minutes left.

After a Davis bucket cut it to 62-61, McCamey followed a Lighty turnover with a go-ahead three-pointer with 1:16 to play in regulation.

Lighty answered with a tying layup while drawing contact but missed the ensuing free throw. McCamey was fouled on the next possession and hit both free throws to put Illinois in front with 31.5 seconds remaining.

Turner countered with up-and-under layup after taking his defender off the dribble from the baseline.

Illinois wasted valuable time bringing the ball up the court and called timeout with 3.1 ticks left. Those missed seconds proved costly, as McCamey drew two defenders at the foul line, leaving Davis open underneath. The 6- foot-9 forward failed to get the shot off before the buzzer sounded, though he missed the gimme anyway.

McCamey hit a three-pointer midway through the first extra session for a 73-69 Illinois lead. Turner then hit a pair of free throws around a Bill Cole tip-in before tying the game on a layup with 22.0 seconds left.

Without calling a timeout, McCamey dribbled away the clock, finally passing with one second remaining to Tyler Griffey, who foolishly swung the ball to Cole on the left wing as time expired.

Diebler opened the second OT with a three-pointer and Ohio State led from there. With a minute on the clock, Turner committed his fifth foul on Griffey, who hit 1-of-2 free throws to pull the Illini within 84-81.

Lighty sealed the dramatic win with an acrobatic driving layup and a steal and fastbreak lay-in.

Ohio State, which swept Illinois in the regular season by a combined 35 points, jumped out to an 8-2 lead on Turner's steal and slam a little over three minutes into the game.

After going up 15-7 with 13 minutes left, the Buckeyes went the next six minutes without scoring. Illinois' subsequent 14-0 run, highlighted by a McCamey-to-Davis alley-oop, provided the underdogs with a 21-15 lead.

The margin was still six points in the Illini's favor at halftime, 37-31, and reached double digits, 45-35, when McCamey's bucket went down five minutes into the second half.

Game Notes

Illinois' last conference tourney title came back in 2005, while Ohio State's last taste was 2007...Griffey and Tisdale had 13 and 10 points, respectively, for Illinois, which was outscored in the paint, 38-26...The Buckeyes made just 15-of-24 free throws.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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