Bulldogs take on Ramblers in Chicago

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/25/2007 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Butler Bulldogs of the Horizon League are currently ranked 14th in the nation, and they hope to continue their dominance of conference opponents in tonight's clash with Loyola- Chicago.

Butler has won its last three games and seven of the last eight to improve to 17-2 overall and 5-1 in Horizon action. The last three victories have all come by 15 or more points, including an 80-59 thrashing of Wisconsin- Green Bay on Saturday.

Loyola has put together back-to-back wins to move to 13-7 overall, and the squad is 4-3 against league opponents. Of the 10 home games that the Ramblers have played, nine have resulted in victory. Saturday's home bout against IPFW ended in a 69-53 triumph.

Butler owns a 41-28 lead in the all-time series with Loyola, and the Bulldogs have won five of the last six meetings.

The key to Butler's success this season has been its ability to play outstanding defense, as it is limiting opponents to just 55.6 ppg on 40.3 percent shooting from the floor. Also, the Bulldogs have committed just 191 turnovers in 19 games, an average of 10 per contest, and they are forcing almost 15 giveaways per outing. The leading scorer for Butler is A.J. Graves, as his 18.6 ppg can be attributed much more to his 98.9 percent shooting from the foul line than his 39.7 percent efficiency from the field. Mike Green adds 13.4 ppg to the mix, and Brandon Crone checks in with 10.6 ppg. Graves was on fire in the victory over UW-Green Bay, as he nailed 5- of-8 three-pointers and all nine foul shots en route to 28 points. The Bulldogs connected on 52.5 percent of their field goal attempts in the clash and missed only one of their 25 free throws.

Four players scored in double figures for Loyola in the win over IPFW. Majak Kou racked up 17 points and rebounds to pace the Ramblers, and Leon Young pitched in 16 points. J.R. Blount tallied 15 points, and Blake Schilb rounded out the group with 13 points. Loyola earned a 41-29 rebounding advantage in that contest and limited IPFW to 39.1 percent shooting from the floor. Schilb is the team's top offensive performer, as he is netting 15.1 ppg. Blount checks in with 14.1 ppg, and Kou is close behind with 13.3 ppg. Young adds 10.4 ppg to the lineup, and he is pulling down 6.4 rpg as well.

Lotteruamerica NCAA Basketball Betting News

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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.