Trojans attempt to slay Golden Bears in Berkeley

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2007 - Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In an attempt to salvage something from their trip to the Bay Area, the 25th-ranked USC Trojans will take on the California Golden Bears in Pac-10 play from Haas Pavilion this evening.

The Trojans joined the top-25 this past week and in their first defense of that national ranking, got routed by Stanford on Thursday, 65-50. The loss dropped USC to 15-6 overall and 5-3 in league play, two games out of first place.

The Golden Bears have lost two games in a row, including a 62-46 setback to third-ranked UCLA on Thursday. The loss dropped the Bears to an even 4-4 in Pac-10 play and 12-8 overall.

California holds a 124-113 edge in the all-time series with USC and registered a three-game sweep of the Trojans a season ago.

USC got abused by Stanford on Thursday, as the team got 19 shots blocked by the Cardinal in a 15-point loss. Nick Young led the charge offensively for the Trojans, finishing with 13 points. He was joined in double figures by Taj Gibson and Gabe Pruitt, who added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Poor shooting was the culprit in the loss, as USC shot a miserable .284 from the floor (19-of-67), including a .235 clip from behind the arc (4-of-17). This is not an offensive juggernaut by any stretch of the imagination, so when the team is struggling to find its range, bad things will happen. On the year, USC is netting just 70.8 ppg, but makes up for it by allowing a mere 60.8. Young has been the top option at the offensive end, throwing down 17.0 ppg, Lodrick Stewart is next with 13.4 ppg, while the freshman Gibson has proved to be one of the Pac-10's most exciting youngsters, averaging a near double-double with 12.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per outing.

California has its own freshman phenom in the form of 6-10 Ryan Anderson. The talented forward/center leads the Golden Bears in scoring (17.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.8 rpg) and is converting nearly 50 percent of his shots on the year (.496). Ayinde Ubaka is a viable second option offensively at 14.0 ppg, but injuries have cost the team valuable scoring depth beyond that. To make matters worse, the team is without the services of Eric Vierneisel, who has stepped up of late with a key injury to DeVon Hardin (10.7 ppg, 8.4 rpg). Vierneisel injured his ankle in practice on Wednesday and won't return until next week. In the loss to UCLA, Cal shot just .367 from the floor and lost the battle on the boards, 36-25. Theo Robertson led the team on the scoreboard with 16 points. Anderson was on the only one to join him in double figures, finishing with 13 points, on 6-of-13 shooting.

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

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