Old Dominion takes down William & Mary for CAA title

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/08/2010 - Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Darius scored 12 points and Kent Bazemore added 10 points and five assists, as Old Dominion held on to claim the Colonial Athletic Association tournament title with a 60-53 win over William & Mary and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Ben Finney finished with nine points, eight boards and four steals for Old Dominion (26-8), which had a first-round bye in the CAA Tournament before defeating Towson and VCU to get to the title game. The Monarchs, who have won five straight overall, earned their fifth CAA tournament championship and first since 2005. ODU will be making its 10th trip to the Big Dance.

Danny Sumner led all scorers with 19 points, while Quinn McDowell went for nine for third-seeded William & Mary (22-10), which was bidding for its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. The Tribe also earned a first-round bye before claiming victories over James Madison and Northeastern.

Old Dominion, which also won the regular reason conference crown, dictated the pace in the opening 20 minutes, as James hit a three-pointer to cap a 10-0 run and give the Monarchs a 27-14 lead with 7:59 to play in the half.

However, David Schneider and JohnMark Ludwick drained back-to-back triples as part of a 7-0 burst, and William & Mary was able to get to within 31-24 heading into the locker room.

James and Finney each drained a three to bookended a 10-2 run to start the second half and put ODU up by 15, 41-26, in the early going. The Monarchs never relinquished the lead in the remaining time and WMU could only get as close as five, 56-51, following a Sumner three with 1:01 left on the clock.

Game Notes

ODU defeated William & Mary in all three meetings this season and have won 63 of the 78 all-time matchups in the series...ODU's 26 wins are the second most in the school's history.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

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