Kansas captures Big 12 title with third win over K-State

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Morris donated 18 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 1 Kansas to its seventh Big 12 Tournament championship behind a 72-64 victory over ninth-seeded Kansas State.

The Jayhawks (32-2) never trailed in the second half and all but assured themselves a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Tyrel Reed provided 15 points, and Sherron Collins scored 12 to go with eight assists for top-seeded Kansas, which outscored Kansas State at the foul line, 24-8. Cole Aldrich chipped in 10 points and eight boards for the victors.

Denis Clemente netted 17 points, while Jamar Samuels and Jacob Pullen had 14 and 13, respectively, for the second-seeded Wildcats (26-7), who were trying for their first Big 12 Tournament title.

Kansas State, which has already recorded a school record in wins this season, was beaten by a 38-18 margin in the paint.

The game started slow for both teams, with just two field goals being made in the opening five minutes -- both by Kansas.

After the lead changed hands several times, the Jayhawks took over for good on a Morris jumper and Xavier Henry dunk, the latter yielding a 19-16 score with 8 1/2 minutes left in the opening half.

Two Collins free throws closed out the stanza for a 31-27 margin, and Morris had a pair of buckets to open the second half for an eight-point lead.

A Samuels three-pointer and Clemente steal and layup had the KSU deficit down to 40-38 with 13 1/2 minutes remaining, but the Jayhawks scored nine of the next 12 points, with Brady Morningstar's basket making it 49-41 with under 11 minutes to play.

Kansas State didn't go quietly, again making it a two-possession game, 55-50, on Pullen's three-pointer a little later. Another mini spurt by Kansas, though, quickly followed.

Reed caught an outlet pass from Collins after an Aldrich steal and put in a layup for a 64-52 lead with 4:50 to play.

The closest the Wildcats got from there was six.

Game Notes

Kansas State has lost four times in the last 13 games, with three of those setbacks coming to Kansas...This is Kansas' fourth conference tourney crown in the past five years...Henry had just four points on 1-of-7 shooting...Kansas State shot 34.8 percent from the floor, compared to a 43.4 percent shooting effort by the Jayhawks.

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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.