Big Ten brawl pits Illinois against No. 9 Purdue

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

12/30/2008 - West Lafayette, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Big Ten slate gets underway tonight for the ninth-ranked Purdue Boilermakers and the Illinois Fighting Illini at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Illinois has reason to be extremely confident, as the squad is riding a six- game win streak and owns a tremendous 12-1 record. The Illini are fresh off a 62-53 victory over Eastern Michigan on Sunday and beat then nationally-ranked Missouri in the previous outing. The lone loss came by just two points to a Clemson squad that enters Tuesday's action undefeated.

As for Purdue, it has also won its last six outings, and coach Matt Painter's team is 11-2 overall. On Sunday, the club cruised to victory over Valparaiso by a 59-45 final and has also beaten the likes of Boston College and Davidson this season. The only two losses suffered by PU came against powerhouse opponents Duke and Oklahoma.

Purdue holds a narrow 88-82 series lead over Illinois, and the Boilermakers won two of the three meetings a year ago.

Strong defense has clearly been the main ingredient in Illinois' 12-1 start. The Illini are holding foes to just 55.8 ppg on 39.6 percent shooting from the floor, including 26.4 percent from three-point range. Trent Meacham and Demetri McCamey are both averaging 12.2 ppg for Illinois, which is getting 12.1 ppg and 7.8 rpg from Mike Davis. As for Mike Tisdale, he rounds out a foursome of double-digit scorers with 11.6 ppg. In the nine-point win over Eastern Michigan on Sunday, Tisdale racked up 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting from his center position. Meacham had 16 points, and Chester Frazier pulled down 11 boards. The Illini earned a 13-7 edge in points from the foul line and forced 21 turnovers -- two obvious keys to the victory.

As good as Illinois has been defensively this season, it can be argued that Purdue has been even better. The Boilermakers are only allowing 56.0 ppg on 35.1 percent shooting by the opposition. Offensively, they are posting 74.2 ppg, and Robbie Hummel shares the team scoring lead with E'Twaun Moore, as both players are netting 14.4 ppg. Hummel is pulling down 7.8 rpg, and Moore is a versatile talent as well. The third and final double-digit scorer on the roster is JaJuan Johnson with his 12.3 ppg. In the 14-point decision over Valparaiso on Sunday, Moore scored a team-high 14 points. Johnson added 10, and while Hummel was limited to nine points, he did pull down 11 rebounds. The Boilermakers only committed nine turnovers and help the Crusaders to 33.3 percent field goal efficiency. For those reasons, Purdue was able to overcome a sub par 7-of-15 showing from the charity stripe and 36.4 percent shooting from the floor.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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