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Ohio State rallies in second half to clip Lady Lions

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/07/2010 - University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samantha Prahalis hit five three- pointers and scored 26 points to pair with 12 assists, as No. 8 Ohio State rallied from down 14 in the second half to secure an 86-73 win over Penn State.

Jantel Lavender had 18 points and Brittany Johnson added 12 points on four three-pointers for the Buckeyes (23-3, 11-2 Big Ten), who buried 17-of-26 threes overall, including an efficient 9-of-13 in the second half.

Tyra Grant knocked down four three-pointers to finish with 22 points, and Alex Bentley hit 10-of-13 from the field for 20 points for Penn State (15-8, 7-6), which shot 52.6 percent in the first half to open up a 48-37 lead.

But the Lady Lions dipped to a 34.6-percent showing in the second half, and saw their lead -- as high as 56-42 less than three minutes in -- shrink to one on a Sarah Shulze triple with 11 1/2 minutes left.

PSU retained its lead, though, until Maria Moeller struck from long distance for a 70-69 game just past the six-minute mark. Tayler Hill and Moeller then drained shots from beyond the arc on consecutive possessions, and Prahalis pushed the lead to 79-71 with less than three minutes to go with one of her five.

OSU put the game away with a 7-of-8 showing at the free throw line from there.

<< Ovechkin's hat trick keys Caps' OT comeback over Pens
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Knuble scored on the power-play with 2:11 remaining in overtime, and Alex Ovechkin recorded a hat trick, as the Washington Capitals fought back from a three-goal deficit to edge Pittsburgh, 5-4, an

<< UConn rolls on with 46-point win
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tina Charles scored 20 points and Maya Moore added 16, as top-ranked Connecticut demoralized Louisville on the road in an 84-38 romp at Freedom Hall. The Huskies (23-0, 10-0 Big East) took a commanding 5

<< Russia outlasts Serbia in Fed Cup quarters
Belgrade, Serbia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alisa Kleybanova and Svetlana Kuznetsova booked Russia's ticket in the Fed Cup semifinals after winning the decisive doubles rubber on Sunday. Kleybanova defeated Ana Ivanovic in the second reverse si

<< Bosh powers Raptors to win over Kings
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Bosh poured in 36 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, helping Toronto to its seventh consecutive win at Air Canada Centre, 115-104, over the Sacramento Kings. Andrea Bargnani contributed 22 points

<< Cilic defends Zagreb crown
Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seed Marin Cilic outlasted Germany's Michael Berrer 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 to retain the title at the Zagreb Indoors tennis event. Cilic beat Mario Ancic in last year's All-Croatian final, and now

Syracuse thumps Cincinnati on the road >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Rautins had 20 points, as third-ranked Syracuse downed Cincinnati, 71-54, at Fifth Third Arena. Kris Joseph had 17 points, while Scoop Jardine and Arinze Onuaku each chipped in with 11 points for t

Mallorca moves into top four >>
Mallorca, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mallorca took over fourth place in the La Liga table on Sunday as Jose Carlos Nunes scored in the 81st minute of a 1-0 win over Villarreal at the Son Moix Stadium. Mallorca entered the match having wo

St Etienne eases relegation worries >>
Saint Etienne, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St Etienne moved seven points clear of the bottom three on Sunday with a comfortable 3-0 win over Monaco at the Geoffroy Guichard Stadium. Blaise Matuidi had the home side in front after 14 m

Udinese tops Napoli with Di Natale's late heroics >>
Udine, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Antonio di Natale scored two goals in stoppage time to complete a hat trick as Udinese beat Napoli, 3-1, on Sunday at the Stadio Friuli. Di Natale put Udinese in front after seven minutes when he followed

NFL Inactives (Sunday, February 7, 2010) >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of inactive players for Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS VS. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS, 6:25 P.M. (ET) Saints - 3rd QB Chase Daniel, TE Darnell Dinkins, RB Lynell Hamilton, T

What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.

Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).

If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).

Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.

How to Read Point Spreads

New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)

In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:

  • Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
    OR
  • Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.

  • There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.

    The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:

    Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots

    Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.

    For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically

    Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:

  • Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
    OR
  • Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score

    Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?

    Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21

    The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.

    Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.

    Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).

    Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.

    And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.