14th-ranked Racers set sights on Tigers in Nashville

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/23/2012 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 14th-ranked Murray State Racers will try to avenge their only loss of the season as they head to the Gentry Center to battle the Tennessee State Tigers in a premiere Ohio Valley Conference matchup.

TSU and Murray State will be meeting for the 63rd time in history. The Tigers ended the Racers' dreams of a perfect season in first bout this season, as they beat Murray State 72-68 at the CFSB Center. TSU will be attempting to sweep Murray State for the first time since the 1992-1993 season tonight.

Head coach Steve Prohm has led his Racers to three straight wins since the loss to TSU, the most recent of which was an impressive 65-51 victory over Saint Mary's in this past weekend's BracketBusters. Murray State was on fire in the contest as it hit 58.1 percent of its field goals including 9-of-17 from three-point range to down the Gaels. The Racers have already clinched the OVC Title for the third straight year. Murray State's incredible 23-0 start made it the last undefeated team in the NCAA's Division I. Prohm can still be the first coach in MSU's 87-year history to lead his team to a perfect road record.

Isaiah Canaan has had a remarkable year leading Murray State. Canaan is second in the OVC in scoring with an average of 19.3 ppg and has been named one of 11 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, which goes to the nation's top point guard. Donte Poole and Ivan Aska have been vital members of the supporting cast for Canaan along the way. Poole is second on the squad with 14.0 ppg, while Aska is averaging 11.6 points and a team-high 5.9 boards per contest.

Although the Racers are one of the nation's hottest teams, the Tigers are even hotter as they have won their last nine games. TSU improved to 19-10 overall on Saturday in the BracketBusters event by topping Miami-Ohio, 68-61, to keep its streak alive. TSU has not won 20 games in a season since its 1978-1979 campaign. Head coach John Cooper will need his team to get off to a stronger start in this one, as it has had to claw back from second half double-digit deficits in three of its last four games. The Tigers are locked into the No. 2 seed in the upcoming conference tournament and would have to run the table to make it to the Big Dance regardless of the outcome of this one.

Robert Covington will once again try to lead the Tigers past MSU tonight. Covington finished with team highs of 17 points and eight rebounds in the first bout with the Racers. The junior forward is fourth in the OVC in scoring (17.9 ppg) and second in rebounding (7.9 rpg). Patrick Miller is a solid point guard for TSU, while Jordan Cyphers, Kellen Thornton, Wil Peters, and Kenny Moore provide scoring depth.

Wwwwinamilliondollars NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Cardinals and Bearcats collide in Queen City affair
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The tie for sixth-place in the Big East will be broken tonight as the 17th-ranked Louisville Cardinals head to Fifth Third Arena to battle the Cincinnati Bearcats. This will be the 95th meeting in history be

<< Hawkeyes and Badgers meet in Big Ten battle
Iowa City, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 16th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers will look to ground the Iowa Hawkeyes as they visit Carver-Hawkeye Arena for Big Ten Conference action. This will be the second encounter of this season and 155th in history

<< Top-25 showdown on tap in Tallahassee
Tallahassee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first place picture in the Atlantic Coast Conference will get a little clearer tonight as the fifth-ranked Duke Blue Devils head to the Donald L. Tucker Center to square off with the 15th- ranked Florida S

<< Sizzling Thunder welcome Lakers to OKC
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Basketball fans will receive a nice treat before the NBA All-Star break with tonight's matchup between two of the league's best, as the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder play host to Kobe Bryant and the Los

<< Spurs close out Rodeo Road Trip in Denver
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame defensive tackle John Randle said it felt like the team hit every green light during the 1998 season until getting sideswiped in the NFC Championship game against the Atlanta Falcons. The S

Bertuzzi given two-year extension >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings announced a two-year contract extension for veteran forward Todd Bertuzzi on Thursday. The new deal is worth $2.25 million per season. The 37-year-old Bertuzzi is in the third seas

Golf Tidbits: Haas becoming Captain Clutch >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Haas showed off his short game at the Tour Championship last fall, and he put on another display last weekend. Haas doesn't get nearly the credit that others do, but if I needed someone to get up and

Klinsmann names U.S. roster for friendly at Italy >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann named a roster of mostly European-based players Thursday for friendly at Italy later this month. Of the 21 players, 16 are playing in Europe. Although Klinsmann called

England names roster for Netherlands friendly >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England interim manager Stuart Pearce named a 25-man roster Thursday for an upcoming friendly against the Netherlands, and Fraizer Campbell and Tom Cleverley were both handed their first call-ups. Pearce al

Saha named to French squad for Germany friendly >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - France boss Laurent Blanc included Louis Saha on the squad Thursday for a friendly against Germany, giving the Tottenham man a chance to revive his international career. The 33-year-old Saha made his internat

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.