Bizarre twists routine this time of year
It was obvious who would take the final shot. Still, Kemba Walker got it and buried it, and Connecticut beat the odds.
Three games in three days should exhaust most basketball teams, especially a one-man team, and that’s why it was surprising to see Walker shoot the Huskies to a 76-74 upset of Pittsburgh in the Big East tournament quarterfinals Thursday.
But at the same time, this is when nothing is obvious and the bizarre should be expected, because the conference tournaments always bring more plot twists than "Pulp Fiction."
This is when double-digit favorites barely surviving is the daily routine, when teams such as Brigham Young and Kansas almost go down by KO in the first round.
In other words, this is not the time to be betting many big favorites. Put teams on neutral courts, throw in packs of desperate ‘dogs and various postseason motivational scenarios, and the results are so inevitably strange that Quentin Tarantino could be directing the action.
"The eye of the tiger is in the underdog," Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay said. "Playing for your life is more important than playing for your NCAA Tournament seed.
"The underdogs actually have an advantage in these games because their back is against the wall, this could be their last game, and they play harder. The underdogs are cornered. This is all they have left."
Laying points was risky business in the Big 12 quarterfinals in Kansas City, Mo. Kansas survived, but Kansas State did not, and neither came close to covering.
Marcus Morris hit a key 3-pointer late as the Jayhawks, 14½-point favorites, held off Oklahoma State, 63-62. When the teams met Feb. 21, Kansas won by 27 at home.
Kansas State, which had won six straight and was favored by 7½ points, fell 87-75 to Colorado. The Buffaloes, hungry for an NCAA bid, were led by guards Cory Higgins with 28 points and Alec Burks with 24.
In the Mountain West tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center, Jimmer Fredette and top-seeded BYU got a major scare from Texas Christian, which went 1-15 during the conference season.
The Cougars, 17-point favorites, trailed 34-33 at halftime. BYU won 64-58, yet it was hardly an impressive display. Fredette scored 24 points but shot 7-for-21 from the field.
San Diego State failed to cover as a 16-point favorite in a 64-50 victory over Utah, and several fans in attendance obviously wagered on the game. The Aztecs led by 23, and their lead slowly dwindled until Will Clyburn’s layup with 14 seconds left beat the spread for the Utes — drawing mixed reactions from some in the crowd.
Before the lines are posted, the guess here is BYU will be about a 4-point favorite over New Mexico in tonight’s semifinals. The Lobos won the first two meetings, including 82-64 on March 2 in Provo.
The Cougars came out flat in that spot, one day after sophomore forward Brandon Davies was suspended for the season.
"After watching (Thursday’s) game, BYU didn’t look like the eighth-best team in the country," Kornegay said. "They are totally out of sync right now without Davies, and I’m not sure if it’s a mental thing with them or he really meant that much to their team. But when you lose your second-best player, it’s very difficult to adjust, and especially in March."
The San Diego State-UNLV matchup in tonight’s other semifinal will be significant to the sports books. Kornegay said the line should be Pick or Rebels minus-1, and the game will get bet all day with an 8:30 p.m. tip.
"Because it’s close to a pick-’em game, you’re going to see split action rather than one-sided action, so I don’t think we could ask for a better scenario with that being the last game on the board," Kornegay said.
The craziest outcome of the day came from the Atlantic Coast Conference, where Miami, a 3-point favorite, overcame a 10-point deficit in the final minute of regulation to defeat Virginia 69-62 in overtime.
In the Pac-10 quarterfinals, Oregon, an 8-point underdog, routed UCLA, 76-59. That was a bizarre blowout.
But, as usual, most of the drama has been at Madison Square Garden in New York. A day after three stooges (the officials) fouled up the end of the Rutgers-St. John’s game, Walker’s buzzer beater stunned Pittsburgh, which was a 5-point favorite playing for a No. 1 seed.
The Huskies are 2½-point underdogs to Syracuse today. It’s unlikely Walker can carry Connecticut to a fourth win in as many days.
But this is definitely an odd time of year.
Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts the "Las Vegas Sportsline" weeknights at midnight on KDWN-AM (720) and thelasvegassportsline.com.
