Duke hangs on to defeat St. John's

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/28/2012 - Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mason Plumlee finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds, and No. 8 Duke held on for an 83-76 victory over St. John's on Saturday.

Ryan Kelly scored 16 points and grabbed nine boards for the Blue Devils (18-3), who controlled most of the game. They led by more than 20 and were still up by double digits with three minutes to play.

St. John's whittled the margin down to four late in the final minute, but a pair of free throws by Kelly helped Duke secure its second consecutive victory.

Moe Harkless poured in 30 points and had 13 rebounds to lead the Red Storm (9-12), who were coming off Wednesday's win against West Virginia. D'Angelo Harrison added 21 points in the loss.

St. John's faced a big deficit in the second half -- Seth Curry hit a three- pointer about 2 1/2 minutes in to give Duke a 52-30 advantage, and two foul shots by Kelly made it a 60-40 contest with under 14 minutes to go.

But the Red Storm scored 16 of the next 19 points to get back in the game. Harrison drained a pair of three-pointers during the run, which Phil Greene ended with a layup and long-distance make.

The rally had St. John's within 63-56 with 9:12 to go, but Austin Rivers stopped the visitors' momentum by sinking a layup on back-to-back possessions.

The shots helped Duke stabilize, and Plumlee made two free throws with 3:08 left on the clock to give the Blue Devils a 76-63 advantage.

But St. John's followed with another run. Harkless made buckets on three consecutive possessions and knocked down a trey inside the final minute. After Kelly made 1-of-2 from the line, Harrison rolled off a screen to hit a deep three and pull the Red Storm within 79-75.

However, there were only 20 seconds left to play. Kelly made two free throws at the other end, and St. John's didn't make another shot from the field.

Duke took control of the contest with a 20-3 run during the first half. Andre Dawkins made three shots from behind the arc to fuel the burst, which helped the Blue Devils go into halftime with a 45-29 advantage.

Game Notes

The Blue Devils shot only 41.5 percent, but made 32-of-42 free throws...St. John's made 44.1 percent of its shots...Duke holds a 15-6 series advantage with St. John's and is 6-1 all-time against the Red Storm at Cameron Indoor Stadium...Dawkins ended with 14 points, while Rivers had 12.

Sporysbook NCAA Basketball Betting News

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NFL Super Bowl Betting

The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.

Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.

The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

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