Duke hopes to continue dominance of Davidson

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/07/2009 - Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-ranked Duke Blue Devils have won 21 straight meetings with the Davidson Wildcats and will attempt to extend that streak in a non-conference showdown at Cameron Indoor Stadium tonight.

Since dropping an 81-73 decision to Michigan in early December, Duke has run off four straight wins, including a 69-44 besting of Virginia Tech on Sunday. It as the ACC opener for the Blue Devils, whose average margin of victory during the win streak is 31.8 ppg. Now at 12-1 overall, Duke will look to continue its outstanding play at Cameron Indoor Stadium, where it has won 66 straight and 195 of its last 198 games versus non-conference opponents.

As for Davidson, it too has played well of late, winning eight of its past nine outings, including a 76-55 triumph of Samford on Saturday. The win improved the team to 10-2, marking its best start to a season since going 11-1 to open the 1969-70 campaign. The Wildcats though, are just 3-33 all-time against teams ranked in the AP Top-5.

Davidson also hasn't defeated Duke since 1981, dropping 21 straight decision since then. The Blue Devils hold a commanding 86-17 lead in the all-time series with the Wildcats and that includes a 30-1 mark at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Wildcats have had no trouble putting points on the board this season, averaging a healthy 82.3 ppg behind 44.3 percent shooting from the floor and 36.8 percent from three-point range. Stephen Curry is one of the elite players in the nation and he is turning in a hardy 29.2 ppg to pace Davidson. He also leads the team in assists (84), as well as steals (36) and he is shooting 37.5 percent from long distance. Andrew Lovedale has provided Davidson with a presence in the paint and he nearly averages a double-double with 12.8 ppg and a team-high 9.6 rpg. On Saturday, Curry dropped in 21 points and doled out eight helpers to lift the Wildcats past Samford. Curry made 5-of-6 three- pointers for Davidson, which went 12-of-23 from beyond the arc as a team.

The Blue Devils match Davidson with their 82.8 ppg average, only they have fared better on defense and the boards, holding opponents to 60.2 ppg and outrebounding them by 10.5 rpg. Kyle Singler has made an impact at both ends of the floor and he leads Duke with 16.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg and 29 steals. Jon Scheyer is next in line with 13.8 ppg and 22 steals, while Gerald Henderson contributes 12.3 ppg and 4.2 rpg. Nolan Smith round out the double-figure scorers, with 11.1 ppg. On Sunday, all four players reached double digits, as Duke prevailed over Virginia Tech in its league opener. Singler led the charge with an all-around effort of 19 points, eight boards and seven assists. Henderson logged 15 points and eight rebounds, while Smith and Scheyer chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively. Duke controlled the boards, 38-28, and limited Virginia Tech to a sub par 36.7 percent shooting effort from the floor.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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