Gaels and Cougars meet in WCC tussle

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/28/2012 - Provo, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ranked 21st in the nation this week, the Saint Mary's-CA Gaels continue to battle through the rest of the West Coast Conference as the team clashes with the BYU Cougars at the Marriott Center in Provo tonight.

On Thursday night, the Gaels ran their overall win streak to 10 in a row with a 71-64 road victory against Loyola Marymount. The victory kept the team undefeated in conference play at 9-0 which means the Gaels are all alone atop the WCC standings, with Gonzaga looming close behind at 7-1.

As for the Cougars, currently 6-2 in conference and in third place in their first year in the WCC after making the jump from the Mountain West Conference, they took a break from league action on Wednesday night and made the trip to Blacksburg, Virginia to tangle with Virginia Tech. The meeting was a tight one, but in the end BYU pulled out the 70-68 triumph, the team's second in a row and the seventh in the last eight games.

The Gaels, losers against only Baylor and Denver this year, won the first meeting of the season rather easily last month with a 98-82 triumph at McKeon Pavilion in Moraga. Rob Jones had a huge game for the hosts that night with 24 points and 15 rebounds, while Matthew Dellavedova logged a double-double of his own for the hometown team with 18 points and 12 assists. Despite the loss, the Cougars still own an 8-3 advantage in the all-time series.

Refusing to go away quietly, the Lions of LMU gave Saint Mary's all it could handle on Thursday night before the buzzer sounded in the seven-point decision. Stephen Holt scored a game-high 19 points for the visitors, followed by Dellavedova with 13 and seven of the team's 10 assists. Jones logged another double-double with 11 points and a game-high 15 boards, while Brad Waldow tacked on 10 points for the victors. The Gaels have had a different leading scorer in each of the last three outings, showing their balance and versatility, but when it comes to overall stats on the season it is Dellavedova who is first on the unit with his 15.7 ppg as he shoots just over 40 percent from three-point range. Jones is averaging a double-double for the group with 14.3 ppg and a team-best 10.9 rpg, his efforts on the glass helping to give the Gaels a rebounding edge of 8.5 per game which is one of the top numbers in the country.

For the third straight game Noah Hartsock scored at least 20 points, putting up 22 against Virginia Tech earlier this week as the Cougars slipped by the Hokies in a two-point decision at Cassell Coliseum. Also scoring in double figures again for the Cougars was Brandon Davis as he hit for 17 points, thanks mostly to his 11-of-12 performance at the free-throw line. BYU made it through with just 33.3 percent from the floor and 5-of-24 behind the three- point line, thanks to 21-of-24 shooting at the charity stripe. Getting back to conference play, Davies is close to averaging a double-double in those matchups with his 19.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per outing, both of which pace the Cougars. Hartsock checks in with 17.4 ppg, although his 2-of-11 shooting behind the three-point line in such games is certainly a concern, but at least the defense has been able to pick up some of the slack on the perimeter by holding WCC foes to just 28.4 percent success from long range.

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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". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

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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