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Can Favored Butler Take Advantage of Hometown Edge?NCAA Basketball Betting Lines03/31/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been only one season since a team played a Final Four matchup in its home state. Coincidentally, that squad, Michigan State, has to face this year's beneficiary, the Butler Bulldogs. Butler hosts the Spartans this Saturday in a game played less than 10 miles from its own campus. If one thought Michigan State held a decided advantage over Connecticut in last year's semifinal matchup at Ford Field, imagine how head coach Tom Izzo feels about having to go up against a team that plays its home games in the shadows of Lucas Oil Stadium. The bookmakers seized the opportunity, making Butler the favorite this weekend even though Michigan State has reached the Final Four five times since 1999. The Bulldogs have not lost a game in 2010, winning 23 straight and 24 altogether if you include a New Year's Eve victory over Wisconsin-Green Bay. However, they are just 11-12 against the spread in those games with only a 40% winning percentage as favorites at 8-12. Meanwhile, Michigan State is 18-5 since the New Year, and 12-11 ATS. More importantly, the Spartans are 4-1 ATS when getting points, including victories over Tennessee and Maryland already in the tournament. Road games usually do not affect Michigan State, as evidenced by its 15-3 SU and 12-5-1 ATS marks in Big Ten play over the last two seasons. Prior to the Kansas State game, Butler combined to hit just 38% of its shots vs. Murray State and Syracuse, getting outrebounded in both contests. It's true, Michigan State will be without Kalin Lucas, but the team regrouped from the loss of its leading scorer to win the Maryland game and then move forward beating Northern Iowa and Tennessee. The Spartans are a perfect 4-0 this season with five full days of rest, which shows when given time to prepare, there might not be a better head coach than Izzo. Here's one more nugget to chew on. Though Butler has an edge with the game being played so close to Hinkle Fieldhouse, Michigan State knows this city as well, having won the 2000 National Championship in Indianapolis. AN ACC-BIG EAST SHOWDOWN With its win over Baylor, Duke is in the Final Four for the first time since 2004. It's been a much longer drought for West Virginia. Not since the days of Jerry West have the Mountaineers gone this far in the NCAA Tournament. Can they continue their run with a victory over the Blue Devils? Let's take a look at the matchup. The two clubs are undefeated both SU and ATS in the NCAA's after going 0-3 ATS in conference tournament play. Duke won its first three games vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, California and Purdue by a combined 57 points but struggled against Baylor, needing two late three-pointers to solidify the victory. West Virginia also dominated early-on, with three wins by a combined 49 points followed by a close one with Kentucky. The Mountaineers were 10-for-29 (35%) from two-point land vs. the Wildcats, but came through in the clutch with an incredible 10-for-23 (44%) day from beyond the arc. On the injury front, it looks as if point guard Darryl Bryant will not be available so Joe Mazzulla will be the focal point for the Duke defense, along with Da'Sean Butler. Those two combined for 35 points against Kentucky. Will Mazzulla be able to continue his fine shooting (5-for-8 from the floor) after hitting just three of his previous 21 shots? That's a pressing question. It appears that Duke has a decided edge in the backcourt with Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith, but the key will be how Kyle Singler responds after the worst game of his collegiate career. The junior missed all 10 of his shots against the Bears, and committed four turnovers to boot. One has to expect the forward to bounce back after that wretched performance, especially if recent history has anything to do with it. There have been five games this season (prior to last Sunday) in which Singler has shot worse than 30% from the floor. In the five contests that followed those poor showings, he averaged 23 ppg on 52% shooting. Duke is favored to win the National Championship at odds of 13-10, and the Blue Devils will make a lot of chalk players happy when they prevail in the finals over Michigan State.
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Police report: Terrell Owens hospitalized after attemptTerrell Owens will address the media at a 3:15 p.m. ET news conference outside the Cowboys' practice facility after an internal police report indicated he tried to kill himself by overdosing on prescription pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after a friend intervened. The Dallas police report said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'" Owens left the hospital late Wednesday morning, giving reporters a "thumbs up" but making no comment as he was driven away in an SUV. Michael Irvin said that Owens denied he attempted suicide and said he was rushed to the hospital as a result of an adverse reaction to medication. And a source close to Owens told Michael A. Smith that Owens wasn't attempting suicide. NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders said he spoke with Owens shortly before his release from the hospital and that Owens was in good spirits. "The fact that it has been reported a suicide attempt, he's laughed at that notion. It was a case that medication that was taken wasn't accepted well in his system with the other vitamins he's on," Sanders said. The series of events began a little before 8 p.m. Tuesday. Owens' publicist, Kim Etheredge, said she was at Owens' home when he took pain medicine for his broken right hand. Concerned by how he began acting, Etheredge said in various interviews Wednesday with Dallas-area media that she called 911. Owens was taken to a hospital, with Etheredge saying it was an allergic reaction to the medicine. But early Wednesday, several media outlets received a police report -- that had yet to be released by the authorities -- saying Owens had attempted suicide by overdosing on the painkillers, even putting two more pills into his mouth after an unidentified friend intervened. The police document, first reported by WFAA-TV, said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'" When officially released by police, about half the document was blacked out, including the phrases "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication" and "a drug overdose," as well as the details of Owens having two pills pried from his mouth and Owens saying "Yes" when asked if he intended to harm himself. Etheredge, who said she was the friend cited in the police document, told Dallas-area media Wednesday that the police got the story wrong. The tape of the 911 call could help clear things up. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get its contents, but fire department officials said it would not be available before late Wednesday. The police report said the 32-year-old Owens told his friend "that he was depressed." Details of the police report were first reported by WFAA-TV. The friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said. Using her fingers, the friend attempted to pry them out of Owens' mouth. Owens told police he had taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied before the incident. Etheredge told the Star-Telegram that Owens was "fine." Etheredge said she called 911 because Owens was groggy and lethargic. After taking some supplements "it kicked in a reaction" with the painkillers, she told the Star-Telegram. "Here's a person whose body is so clean, it really had a negative reaction to the medication and supplements he was taking," Etheridge told The Morning News. "Thank goodness someone was there to call an ambulance." Police Lt. Rick Watson said he could only confirm that paramedics called police to say they were taking Owens to the hospital. He said no more details would come from the police because no laws were broken. It is not a crime in Texas for a person to attempt suicide. "This is a high-profile person. We looked into it and we determined it is not a criminal offense," Watson said. "This a medical type of situation that occurred." Watson and fire department spokesman Joel Lavender cited privacy laws for the lack of information they could provide. Lavender said more details could come from the 911 call. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get the contents of the call. "Let's just look at the tape, review the tape," Lavender said. "I'll give you an honest answer once I know something." At the police news conference, Watson released a version of the police narrative with certain sections blacked out. The full report was obtained by several news outlets and reported first by WFAA. The AP received the full version from WFAA. According to the police report, Dallas Fire and Rescue was called regarding someone "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication." Officers arrived to find Owens being stabilized by ambulance workers, who then took him to Baylor University Medical Center. Owens was hospitalized late Tuesday because of what his publicist said was an allergic reaction to pain medicine he was taking for a broken hand. Doctors reportedly tried to induce vomiting. Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it. When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill -- who mostly deals with troubled players -- said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems. He missed most of training camp, and three of four preseason games, because of a hamstring injury. He was late for work during his recovery and was fined for it, but Owens laughed it off, saying he overslept. He said it had happened before, though not with Dallas, and would probably happen again. Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger during a game a week ago Sunday. The next day, doctors screwed in a plate so the bone could heal without fear of further damage. Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said last week that the pain medicine made Owens ill. Owens had not practiced since the injury, but because Dallas had a bye this past weekend he did not miss a game. He was expected to practice Wednesday, and Parcells had said there was a chance Owens could play Sunday against Tennessee. Owens had been especially looking forward to the Cowboys' game after that -- Oct. 8, in Philadelphia, against the team that dumped him midway through last season only months after he helped them nearly win the Super Bowl. Owens was seen laughing and joking on the practice field Tuesday morning. He chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room in the afternoon and seemed fine. A 2-inch scar on the top of his hand was puffy but not wrapped, and he said the swelling was doing down. While in the locker room, he took a pill from a white paper bag and looked at another medicine bottle that was in the bag. He also called a business partner about a towel-wrap venture they're starting and joked to TV cameras that he wasn't talking until Wednesday and it was only Tuesday. "My little boy knows better than that," he said, laughing, as he plopped onto a sofa in the middle of the locker room. Also Tuesday, Owens was involved in launching a national campaign for the National Alliance to End Abuse, an organization aimed at helping at-risk youngsters. He appeared at a high school Tuesday morning and was scheduled to visit others but had to cancel because of changes in the team's practice schedule. Owens has played two games for the Cowboys, catching nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. For updated football betting lines and Dallas Cowboy Superbowl odds visit online sportsbook MySportsbook.com To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your VISA Sportsbook needs. MySportsbook.com - The World's Leading Online Sportsbook For more than 11 years now, MySportsbook.com has been the World’s BEST online sports book website, providing a safe and secure place for sports wagering. Our world-class level of experience and industry sportsbook expertise is unmatched. 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