Arkansas-Pine Bluff routs Winthrop in NCAA opener

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/16/2010 - Dayton, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Allen Smith scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed six rebounds, leading Arkansas-Pine Bluff to a convincing 61-44 win over Winthrop in the opening-round contest of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

The win earned the Golden Lions (18-15) the No. 16 seed in the South Region and the right to play No. 1 seed and ACC champion Duke in Jacksonville on Friday in the first round of the Big Dance.

A victory over Texas Southern in the SWAC title game on Saturday, its 11th win in its previous 12 games, gave Arkansas-Pine Bluff its first ever berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Thanks to their defense, which held Winthrop (19-14) to a season-low scoring output, the Lions will continue playing, as they try to become the first No. 16 seed to knock off the top team in their portion of the bracket.

"It feels great," an excited Smith said of the monumental win. "It's the first time we got a win in the SWAC in 17 years [in the NCAA Tournament]."

Tyree Glass chipped in 10 points, while Tavaris Washington had 13 rebounds to go with eight points and five assists for the victors.

Charles Corbin and Matt Morgan led the Eagles with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

The Big South champions shot 29.1 percent for the game, including a woeful 2- for-21 from three-point range.

"We picked a bad time to have a bad game," Winthrop head coach Randy Peele said. "This team has played very well throughout the course of the year and has accomplished a great deal."

Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which started its season with 11 straight losses, led by as many as 16, 53-37, following a Lebaron Weathers make with under five minutes left in regulation.

Winthrop got as close as 53-44 on a Corbin layup with three minutes to go, but that was the last bucket for the Eagles, as they missed their final six shots, five coming from long distance.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff was on top 11-4 eight minutes in, but a 13-2 run between eight and two minutes left in the opening stanza saw the Eagles inch ahead.

Two Mantoris Robinson free throws gave Winthrop a 23-17 edge, only to watch the Lions score the final seven points of the half for a one-point lead break.

Smith made a pair of three-pointers in the opening six-plus minutes of the second half, the latter giving UAPB a 38-31 cushion.

Near the midway point of the second half, Savalance Townsend's baseline spin move led to an easy bucket in the lane, putting the Lions in front 45-36.

After Winthrop's Andy Buechert missed two free throws, George Davis hit a jumper and Townsend later added a three, capping a 10-2 spurt that gave the Lions a 48-36 lead with 8 1/2 minutes to play.

Game Notes

Glass suffered a knee injury early in the second half and did not return... This was Winthrop's fifth trip to the "Big Dance" in the last six years and ninth overall. The Eagles are 1-9 all-time in the tourney...UAPB shot 38.6 percent from the field...Weathers had seven points, seven boards and four blocks...Robinson ended with 10 points and eight rebounds in the loss...Winthrop's Reggie Middleton went 2-for-12 from the field for five points.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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