Blake Griffin watches from bench, as Abrams, Texas top Sooners

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/21/2009 - Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A.J. Abrams had 23 points and scored 16 straight for Texas down the stretch, as the Longhorns notched a signature 73-68 victory over second-ranked Oklahoma in a heavyweight Big 12 tussle.

Abrams buried five three-pointers with four of them coming over the final eight minutes as the senior guard took over the game with 18 second-half points.

Damion James had 16 points and 10 rebounds while Dogus Balbay logged 10 points, a game-best nine assists and eight boards for Texas (18-8, 7-5 Big 12), which had lost four of six and was coming off a thorough 81-66 dismantling at the hands of Texas A&M.

Ranked as high as seventh early in the season, the Longhorns fell on hard times since starting their Big 12 slate at 4-1, enduring a three-game losing streak that precipitated a tumble from the Top 25. However, Saturday's performance will make it hard for NCAA committee members to keep Texas out of the big dance come Selection Sunday.

Texas has now won six straight home games against top-five teams.

Freshman Willie Warren connected for six three-pointers en route to 27 points and helped fill the huge void left by an injury to standout sophomore Blake Griffin.

Griffin was struck over the bridge of his nose by Texas' Dexter Pittman with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the first half. Visibly woozy and his nose bloodied, Griffin remained on the bench following a timeout a short time later at the insistence of OU trainers. At halftime it was decided he would not return due to a suspected concussion. He had to be helped to the locker room by trainers at the break.

Tony Crocker netted 14 points with seven rebounds and Taylor Griffin, Blake's brother, scored nine with eight boards for the Sooners (25-2, 11-1), who saw their 13-game win streak come to an end at the most inopportune of times.

Oklahoma's recent dominance coupled with No. 1 UConn's loss to Pitt earlier this week had the Sooners positioned to take over the top spot in the polls next week. OU's lone defeat coming in was to Arkansas back on December 30.

Blake Griffin finished 1-of-5 from the field with two points and three rebounds in 11-plus minutes.

Wwwstarluck NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Thornton, LSU hold off Auburn
Baton Rouge, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Thornton posted a game-high 25 points to go with seven rebounds as No. 23 LSU proved to be the best Tigers in the SEC with a hard-fought 79-72 victory over Auburn. LSU (23-4, 11-1 SEC) won it

<< St. Louis upends No. 25 Dayton
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Lisch scored 16 points and pulled down six rebounds to pace Saint Louis to a 57-49 win over 25th-ranked Dayton. Tommie Liddell added 10 points and five assists for the Billikens (17-10, 8-5 Atlantic

<< Canucks' Sundin returns to Toronto, nets SO winner
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mats Sundin scored the game-winning shootout goal in his return to Toronto, as the Vancouver Canucks edged the Maple Leafs, 3-2, at Air Canada Centre. With things tied after the fifth skater in the shootout

<< Spurs dismantle Wizards to end road trip on high note
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Mason burned his former team by scoring 25 points, and the Spurs wrapped up a lengthy eight-game road trip with a 98-67 rout of the lowly Washington Wizards. Mason, who played for the Wizar

<< Oklahoma's Blake Griffin leaves game
Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma standout sophomore forward Blake Griffin took a shot to the head Saturday night during the first half against Texas and will not return. Griffin, a frontrunner for National Player of the Year

Rinne, Weber lead Preds in OT blanking of Blues >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shea Weber scored the game's lone goal with 2:24 remaining in overtime, as the Nashville Predators blanked the St. Louis Blues, 1-0, in the second of a home-and-home set and the final meeting of the season

Wild deal Red Wings rare loss >>
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Owen Nolan had two goals and an assist, as the Minnesota Wild handled the Detroit Red Wings, 5-2, at the XCel Energy Center. Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Martin Skoula, and Stephane Veilleux scored for the Wild,

Jazz top Hornets in first game following Miller's death >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mehmet Okur scored 25 points and the Utah Jazz won their first game since the death of team owner Larry H. Miller with a 102-88 triumph over the New Orleans Hornets. Miller died on Friday, succumbi

Mavericks score 70 in first half, dominate the Kings >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Singleton had a season-high 19 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, as the Dallas Mavericks used a 70-point first half to cruise past the Sacramento Kings, 116-95. Josh Howard and Brandon Bass each s

Record-winning day for Busch at California >>
Fontana, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Several hours after winning the Camping World Truck Series race, Kyle Busch returned to victory lane at Auto Club Speedway when he took the checkered flag for the Stater Bros. 300 Nationwide event. Busch

Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.