Marquette and DePaul meet in Big East action

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/06/2012 - Rosemont, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off a humbling loss, the Marquette Golden Eagles will try to bounce back tonight against the DePaul Blue Demons in a Big East Conference battle at Allstate Arena.

This will be the 111th meeting in the all-time series. Marquette leads the series 66-44 after a dominant 94-64 victory on Jan. 18th, 2011 last season. The Blue Demons did however pick up a 51-50 victory in their last encounter with the Golden Eagles in Rosemont.

Head coach Buzz Williams has led his team to a 19-5 overall record, as it fell to 8-3 in Big East action after a 76-53 loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday. The Golden Eagles struggled offensively in the loss to the Irish as they were held under 40 percent shooting from the field and set a season- low with a three-point percentage of .154. Marquette is now 2-3 on the road in Big East games this season. The Golden Eagles have one of the best offenses in the Big East, as they are ranked second in scoring offense with an average of 75.4 ppg on 45.3 percent shooting from the field.

Marquette is led by its star seniors Darius Johnson-Odum and Jae Crowder. Johnson-Odom is leading the team with 18.0 ppg on 44.3 percent shooting from the floor. The senior guard has been consistent as he has scored in double- figures in all of his appearances this season. Crowder is second on the team in scoring (16.0) and the teams top rebounder with 7.5 boards per game. Crowder is also making a difference on the defensive end with 2.3 steals per outing. Davante Gardner, Todd Mayo, Vander Blue, and Junior Cadougan are decent role players who add depth that makes Marquette nearly impossible to match up with.

Head coach Oliver Purnell has led his DePaul team to a 11-11 overall record, but just a 2-8 mark in Big East action after its 74-66 loss to Cincinnati on Sunday. The Blue Demons pulled down a season-high 40 rebounds in the loss to the Bearcats, but still found themselves on the losing end after they committed 18 turnovers. Although DePaul is serviceable on the offensive end in league play with an average of 7-.5 ppg, it has the worst scoring defense in Big East action with an allowed average of 80.8 ppg. Conference foes have connected on 51.3 percent of their field goal attempts against DePaul.

Cleveland Melvin is pacing DePaul with 18.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. The sophomore forward recorded his second-straight double-double his last time out as he finished with 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in the team's loss to Cincinnati. Brandon Young is second on the team in scoring (15.5) and the top passer with an average of 5.0 assists per outing. Young has averaged 11 points and nine assists per game in his last two games. Jeremiah Kelly provides a scoring spark off the bench for DePaul, while freshman Jamee Crockett continues to improve while starting at small forward.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.