Irish to try their luck in Big East brawl with Huskies

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/29/2012 - Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Notre Dame Fighting Irish conclude their two-game road trip with a visit to the XL Center to square off with the 24th- ranked Connecticut Huskies.

This will be the 27th meeting in the all-time series between these programs. Although UConn holds a 17-9 advantage in the rivalry, Notre Dame has won three of the last four encounters. The Huskies won 67-53 in the first meeting this season on Jan. 14th, after they shot 46.3 percent from the field and held the Fighting Irish to 32.3 percent accuracy on their field goals.

Notre Dame put itself on the nation's radar as it handed the Syracuse Orange their first and only loss of the season. The Fighting Irish made it two in a row on Wednesday as they topped the Seton Hall Pirates 55-42. The 42 points allowed to the Pirates was the lowest scoring output by an opponent since 2005. Head coach Mike Brey's gameplan to stop Seton Hall's leading scorers, Herb Pope and Jordan Theodore, worked to perfection as the duo combined to go 6-of-28 from the field in the contest. The Fighting Irish are netting 68.2 ppg and have allowed opponents to score an average of 63.0 ppg.

The trio of Eric Atkins, Jerian Grant, and Jack Cooley will be instrumental for the Irish if they want to continue their success. Atkins is the team's leading scorer with an average of 12.9 ppg after his 14-point performance against Seton Hall on Wednesday. Grant averages 12.8 ppg, and chipped in 15 points and five boards his last time out. Cooley was the big man on campus after his 17-point and 10-rebound double-double in Saturday's upset win.

The Huskies enter with a 14-5 overall record after their 60-57 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers on Jan. 21st. UConn was held to 36.4 percent shooting from the floor while the Volunteers knocked down 42.3 percent of their field goals in the contest. The defeat was the second straight for Jim Calhoun's squad, which was upset by Cincinnati earlier last week. UConn has outscored its opponents by an average of 8.1 ppg so far this season.

After two losses in a row, Ryan Boatright will be welcomed back to the lineup. The Huskies freshman guard has averaged just over 10 points per game this season and knocked down 47.1 percent of his three-point attempts. Boatright will take some pressure off of Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier. Lamb is the team's leading scorer with an average of 17.9 ppg. The sophomore swingman scored 23 points versus Tennessee his last time out. Napier has scored 45 points in his last two outings. Freshman center Andre Drummond is the team's top rebounder with 7.6 rpg.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

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