Morgan, Spartans earn share of Big Ten title with rout of Michigan

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raymar Morgan led all scorers with 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, as 11th-ranked Michigan State claimed a share of the Big Ten regular-season title with a 64-48 rout of conference rival Michigan at the Breslin Center.

Kalin Lucas and Delvin Roe each finished with 10 points for Michigan State (24-7, 14-4 Big Ten), which split the title with Purdue and Ohio State but will be the third seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament due to tiebreakers. The Spartans, who shot 45.3 percent from the field, have won three straight and five of their last six after a three-game slide.

Zack Gibson ended with a team-best 10 points for Michigan (14-16, 7-11), which have dropped four of its last five. DeShawn Sims had nine points and nine rebounds in defeat.

Michigan State took the suspense out of this one right from the start, as Morgan's layup put the Spartans ahead 25-8 with 8:23 left in the first half. Layups by Lucas and Roe and a three-point play from Morgan closed the stanza to give the hosts a 32-14 advantage heading into the locker room.

The Spartans then scored the first 10 points to start the second half and go up by an insurmountable 42-14 score. MSU would hold a double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest.

Game Notes

Despite the loss, Michigan still owns a 91-74 advantage in the all-time series with Michigan State, but the Spartans have won 18 of the last 21 meetings, including 11 straight in East Lansing...The Wolverines shot 34.9 percent from the field and only 4-of-21 from three-point range...MSU improved to 15-2 at home this season.

Wwwsportspage NCAA Basketball Betting News

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.