Service Plays Friday 10/29/10

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[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Tale Of The Tape: West Virginia-UCONN

West Virginia Mountaineers at Connecticut Huskies (6.5, 45.5)

Offense

The Mountaineers rushing attack has taken a couple steps back in recent weeks. Stud tailback Noel Devine has been slowed with a bum toe, dropping the WVU ground game to second-worst in the Big East, averaging just 143 rushing yards per game. Through the air, the Mountaineers haven’t fared much better, putting up 220 passing yards per outing (fourth in the conference) but posting just 178 yards through the air in last week’s loss to Syracuse.

The Huskies offense is fourth in scoring in the Big East, putting up an average of 28.1 points – two more than WVU. On the ground, UConn is rushing for almost 184 yards on the back of Jordan Todman. However, he’s coming off a rough go against Louisville, rushing for 80 yards on 19 carries and failing to crack the century mark for the first time this season. The Huskies passing game also is up in the air with demoted backup Zach Frazer under center. On the year, Connecticut is passing for only 163 yards an outing – last in the conference.

Edge: West Virginia

Defense

West Virginia is among the top teams in most defensive categories including passing yards allowed, total yards against and points allowed. The Mountaineers are giving up under two touchdowns per game and have clamped down on opposing QBs, allowing 148 yards through the air while picking off eight passes – one less than Connecticut’s secondary. On the ground, WVU is holding foes to 97 yards a contest but watched as Syracuse matched for 183 yards on 38 carries in Week 8.

Connecticut is giving up almost 23 points per game, which ranks second worst in the Big East. The Huskies biggest weakness has been against the run, allowing 151 yards per game and watching opposing rushing attacks find the end zone seven times. Things are better defending the pass, allowing 206 yards per game. The Huskies do have an opportunistic stop unit, topping the conference with nine picks. They’ve forced eight fumbled but has managed to reel in just three of those loose balls.

Edge: West Virginia

Special Teams

West Virginia is picking up 9.55 yards per punt which is just below UConn’s mark of 9.58. The Mountaineers are dead last in kick return yardage, averaging only 17.77 yards per attempt. On the other side of the ball, WVU is giving up 10.79 yards per punt and 20.17 yards per kick return – second best in the Big East. The Mountaineers did allow a punt-return TD against LSU on September 25.

The Huskies have found life on kick returns, posting 24.31 yards per return while running back a kick for a TD against Rutgers on October 8. Connecticut is allowing the most punt return yards in the Big East, watching opponents run for 13 yards per punt and allowing Louisville to run back a TD return last week. The Huskies are also last in the conference in kick return yards allowed, watching opposing special teams rumble for 24.41 yards per kickoff.

Edge: West Virginia

Word On The Street

"We may run a little bit more in the offense, and (QB) Geno (Smith) is certainly talented. You love to have a running quarterback, which certainly adds to the staple, but we need to run the ball a little bit better and hopefully we can do that. We'll get things worked out and resolved.'' – WVU head coach Bill Stewart (The News And Sentinel)

"We did look slow. Maybe they're that much more athletic. Maybe their athletes made us look bad." - UConn coach Randy Edsall after losing to UL in Week 8 (Hartford Courant)

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

BANG THE BOOK

Friday's Best NCAA Bets

West Virginia Mountaineers at Connecticut Huskies (6.5, 45.5)

If there is any hope for a Big East team to get into the Top 25 any time in the near future, the West Virginia Mountaineers had better not trip up again on Friday night’s NCAA football betting affair against the Connecticut Huskies.

WVU made an absolutely vital blunder last week when it lost to the Syracuse Orange in a game that made start a train wreck in Morgantown. The offense had a dreadful day, as it only ended up getting to 284 yards at home against a defense that historically is nothing to write home about. QB Geno Smith was having a great season before he ran up against the ‘Cuse, who picked him off three times. Now, the first year starter has thrown for 1,536 yards, 15 TDs, and five picks on the season. RB Noel Devine was the real start of the show for the blue and gold against the Orange, as he rushed for 122 yards. Though he is clearly not the Heisman Trophy candidate that many thought he would be, Devine has been solid this year, rushing for 626 yards and four TDs. Simply put, the West Virginia defense has been great this year. The Mountaineers have held all seven of their foes to 21 points or less this year, and the end result has been some great numbers. The ‘Neers rank No. 4 in the nation in both total defense (245.9 yards per game) and passing yards (148.4 yards per game), and they chime in this week at No. 11 in rush defense (97.4 yards per game). If UConn can’t get on the board to the tune of more than the 13.3 points per game that WVU is averaging, it is going to be a long, long game.

Though Huskies might look like they have had a great offensive year considering the fact that they have scored at least 40 points three times this year, they have also been held to 16 points or less three times as well. It should come as no surprise that those three games came against the three toughest teams on the slate. This is going to be the toughest game of the season, and it comes off of getting shut out by the Louisville Cardinals at Papa John’s Stadium last weekend. RB Jordan Todman seems to be the only man that can carry this offensive load, and as we found out last week when he was limited to just 80 yards for the game, the unit just fails miserably. Todman has a whopping 141 carries this year, an average of 20.1 per game, and though he does have 841 yards and eight TDs this year, there is question whether or not he will break down at some point with all of this added pressure from a passing game that just has not gotten the job done this year. There are only seven TD passes between QB Zach Frazer and QB Cody Endres. QB Michael Box will get his first career start this week against the WVU defense.

Neither one of these teams have been worth much of late, but we know that the Mountaineers have the talent to put forth a great effort, even on the road. Especially after getting shut out last week, we have no confidence at all in UConn. The WVU defense should have a field day.

Pick: West Virginia Mountaineers -6.5

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

West Virginia At UCONN: What Bettors Need To Know

West Virginia Mountaineers at Connecticut Huskies (6.5, 45.5)

Two teams coming off disappointing performances square off when West Virginia (5-2 , 4-3 ATS) takes on UConn (3-4, 3-4ATS) Friday night. The Mountaineers’ lackluster offense finally caught up to them with a 19-14 loss to Syracuse, while the Huskies were shutout by Louisville losing 26-0 last week.

Why West Virginia Will Cover

In terms of talent, there are too many personnel mismatches in this contest. It starts on the defensive side, with the Mountaineers giving up just 13.3 points per game this season.

Much of that can be attributed to a solid secondary, which held Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib to just 63 yard passing last week. The week prior, USF’s B.J. Daniels threw for 119 yards for no touchdowns and three interceptions.

UConn shows no signs of breaking that trend with a passing attack that ranks 102nd in the nation. And let’s not forget the drama surrounding the quarterback situation. Notre Dame transfer Zach Fraser began the season with much hype as the starter but soon lost his job to Cody Endres. The former backup seemed to inject some life into the team, leading UConn to back-to-back 40-point performances and a decent showing against Rutgers.

But then last week, Cody Endres reportedly failed his third drug test and head coach Randy Edsall kicked him off the team. The suspension had a trickle effect both in terms of talent and chemistry, which no doubt contributed to their poor showing against Louisville.

On the ground, the WVU run defense is allowing less than 100 yards per game. On offense, running back Noel Devine will be looking to raise his draft stock after a couple performances well below his talent level, in part to an injured toe.

Why UCONN Will Cover

After being blown out for the first couple games in this series, UConn nearly pulled off an upset on the road last year, losing by just four points. The Huskies generated 501 yards of offense and actually held the lead at the half in that game. The team was dealing with the tragic stabbing death of CB Jasper Howard at the time, so a little drama at QB is miniscule compared to what the team dealt with last year.

Zach Frazer has a chip on shoulder. He was originally signed with Notre Dame with much hype being rated one of the top QBs in high school. But after seeing himself fourth on Charlie Weis’ depth chart, Frazer transferred to UConn.

This year, he suffered more setbacks losing his job to Endres. Then, in the wake of Endres’ suspension, Randy Edsall opted for freshman Mike Box to start over Frazer. Box is out with a concussion this week, so by default Frazer will start Friday. He has a lot to prove and he certainly has the talent to keep the Huskies in the game.

Line And Trends

The line opened up at -7 in favor of WVU and has since seen a half-point move down to -6.5 at most sportsbooks. The Mountaineers are a perfect 6-0 in this series and they have covered the spread in all matchups except for last year. But, keep in mind, that WVU has had problems covering against teams with losing records, going 2-6 ATS.

The total sits at 45.5 and cappers looking for past trends will find themselves just data mining to justify their original instinct. The over has hit four out of six times in this series, but WVU has one of the top defenses and is on a two-game under streak. It is 1-5 over/under in its last five Big East games but UConn has hit the over seven times in its last eight conference games.

Perhaps a more telling stat is that in the Edsall-Stewart matchups, the difference between the total and the final score have stayed within a touchdown.

Partly cloudy skies and lows in the 30s are expected by kickoff with northwest winds coming in at 10 to 15 mph.

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

NBA Betting Preview

KINGS-NETS PREVIEW

The New Jersey Nets were the worst home team in the NBA last season. The Sacramento Kings were near the bottom in road wins.

One of the teams will take another step toward changing that this season when they meet Friday night.

After opening with an NBA-record 18 consecutive losses last season, including seven at the Izod Center, New Jersey outscored Detroit 13-3 in the final 1:40 on Wednesday for a 101-98 season-opening victory in its first game at the Prudential Center.

The Nets were 8-33 at home last season when they finished a franchise-worst 12-70.

"We're moving forward," point guard Devin Harris said after totaling 22 points and nine assists in Avery Johnson's debut as Nets coach.

"I don't like references to last year. It's forgotten about. This is about this team showing what we can do when we do things right."

New Jersey, which didn't post its second home win last season until Dec. 30, will face a Kings team trying to prove it can win on the road after going 7-34 away from Arco Arena in 2009-10. Only the Nets and Minnesota had worse road records.

Looking to avoid losing its first road game for an eighth consecutive season, Sacramento opened with a 117-116 win at Minnesota on Wednesday. Carl Landry had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Francisco Garcia also scored 22 and Beno Udrih added 18 with six assists.

"It was a great season-opening game," said Udrih, who averaged 20.0 points against the Nets in 2009-10. "The last two years, we've been 0-3, 0-4 and we've been basically chasing that .500. This year we start with a win and hopefully we can get a couple more on this (three-game) road trip."

With a chance to open 2-0 on the road for the first time since 2001-02, the Kings will likely have reigning Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans back in the starting lineup. Evans, the fourth first-year player to average at least 20 points (20.1), five rebounds (5.3) and five assists (5.8), served a one-game suspension for pleading no contest to a reckless driving arrest over the summer.

His 21 points helped Sacramento beat the Nets 109-96 on Nov. 27, but an injured Evans missed last season's meeting in New Jersey on March 24 and the Kings lost 93-79.

The Nets snapped a franchise-record, 14-game home losing streak with that victory as Brook Lopez had 26 points, 13 boards and four blocks. Now Lopez gets his first matchup with rookie center DeMarcus Cousins, who had 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists in his NBA debut Wednesday.

Nets rookie Derrick Favors - selected two picks ahead of Cousins at No. 3 - also had a solid first game with eight points and 10 boards in 20 minutes off the bench.

While newcomer Anthony Morrow (13 points) appears to work well with Harris in the Nets' starting backcourt, the team's bench - which averaged an Eastern Conference-low 26.6 points last season - could be much improved with the addition Jordan Farmar.

In 22 minutes Wednesday, the former Los Angeles Lakers guard hit two 3-pointers and had 10 points with four assists.


HEAT-MAGIC PREVIEW

Miami is an event town so it knows this feeling well. The circumstances for Friday's excitement, however, are dizzyingly new.

Get used to it.

After all the pinch-yourself excitement this town has experienced since the summer, the Miami Heat's home opener is here. Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh will put on their home jerseys Friday night and play together for the first time at AmericanAirlines Arena when they meet the Orlando Magic for an 8 p.m. tipoff.

Miami is aglow with the regal sensation that accompanies the Super Bowl. Call it The King affect. Friday is the first of 41 home games the new-look Heat will play on Biscayne Boulevard. Pace yourself, Miami. It's a long season.

The Heat (1-1) has taken that patient approach to start the season. By design, Miami is easing into the season even if the excitement surrounding the team is already at postseason levels.

With Wade only two games into a return from his hamstring injury, the Heat is averaging 88.5 points per game. James, the unselfish superstar, has committed 17 turnovers in two games while still learning the tendencies of his teammates. Bosh is averaging 11.5 points in his new role.

``Offensively, I understand it will take a little time for the continuity,'' coach Erik Spoelstra said. ``I've really tried to scale back and simplify what we're doing so the guys get to understand, more importantly, moving the ball and understanding our tendencies individually.''

Still, it's hard to believe that the Heat won't be running wide open Friday inside a home arena filled with high expectations. It likely will take a midseason effort to defeat the Magic, which finished the preseason 7-0 and had an average margin of victory of 30.7 points in its final three tuneups.

Six players averaged double figures in scoring for the Magic during preseason, including veteran Vince Carter (17.2) and center Dwight Howard, who averaged 15 points, 11.7 rebounds and nearly three blocks. The Magic's tough defense allowed only 77.7 points per game in the preseason.

Howard's inside presence will offer a similar challenge to the one the Heat faced against the Boston Celtics, whose defense dominated the post at times in Tuesday's season opener. The Heat scored 80 points in its debut and Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, with help from others, held Bosh to just eight points.

Defensively, Bosh will rely on help from the Heat's other post players on Friday, including center Joel Anthony. Anthony is averaging five rebounds and 17 minutes per game. Contributing off the bench, Udonis Haslem is averaging eight rebounds in 21 ½ minutes.

Spoelstra expects Anthony's energy level to remain high throughout the regular season as his confidence on offense develops. He is averaging a point per game in a role designed to free up his teammates. Still, Spoelstra said he wants Anthony to be ``a game changer.''

``Two or three possessions I want him to save us with either a block or a deflection or an early help where we might have gotten beaten and he's able to erase that,'' Spoelstra said. ``Offensively, he makes guys better. He's arguably the best screener in the league, certainly on our team, and our perimeter players know that.''

The Heat's perimeter players flourished during Wednesday night's victory at Philadelphia. James Jones scored 20 points off the bench, including 6 of 9 three-point attempts. Overall, the Heat shot 50 percent (8 of 16) from three-point range.

The shots are ``going to be there for James for Eddie House for Carlos Arroyo as well,'' said Wade, who scored 30 points against the 76ers.

``We got to make sure [Arroyo] continues to get confidence and shoot the shot when the ball is swung to him because they're doing a lot of ball watching and a lot of double teaming on Chris, LeBron and myself, so guys got to be ready to just shoot it and let it go.''​

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

PICK 'N' ROLL

Friday's Best NBA Bets

Sacramento Kings at New Jersey Nets (-2, 199)

Don’t look now, but the Kings frontcourt is … good?

Sacramento was minus-1 in rebounding differential in a season-opening 117-116 win over the Timberwolves, but grabbed a very strong 45 rebounds. The team received a balance efforts from its big man, getting 11 boards from Carl Landry, eight from rookie DeMarcus Cousins, seven from Donte Greene, six from Jason Thompson and four from Omri Casspi.

And the unit should only get more deep on Friday when center Samuel Dalembert is expected to make his debut for the Kings.

This group also should improve greatly on its 40 points in the paint in its second game against the Nets as guard Tyreke Evans also will make his season debut. Evans missed the team’s win over Minnesota due to a one-game suspension.

Meantime, the Nets are coming off a miraculous comeback against the Pistons that saw them finish on a 13-3 run. New Jersey struggled to contain the Pistons forwards and despite posting a 44-37 edge on the boards, tout a suspect front line of Brook Lopez, Joe Smith, Travis Outlaw, Kris Humphries, Terrance Williams, Damion James and Derrick Favors.

Pick: Sacramento Kings


Orlando Magic at Miami Heat (-3.5, 185)

It’s this simple for the Miami Heat -- when they hit jump shots, they win.

In a season-opening loss to the Celtics, the Heat made a meager 6-of-22 spot-up jump shots -- good for a meager 27.3 percent -- and notched just 17 points via the set J. On catch-and-shoot opportunities in a 10-point win over the Sixers one night later, the team was nearly twice as good with their stroke, banging 11-of-21 attempts -- a clip of 54.4 percent -- to finish with 30 points from set shots.

Just as important was the outside shooting of James Jones. After burying a pair of triples to give his team life late against Boston, Jones was 6-of-9 from distance against the Sixers and finished with a surprising 20 points.

"When we have our long ball going like that, it's unlimited what we can do offensively," James told the Associated Press.

Further down the court, the Magic should be tired after opening their new arena in front of a raucous crowd against the Wizards. Combine that with the Heat keeping their hot shooting for their home opener, and you get a smoking victory.

Pick: Miami Heat

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

NHL Betting Preview

SABRES (3-6-1) at THRASHERS (4-4-1)

TV: MSG-B (HD), FS-S (HD)

Season Series: Second of four meetings this season and the second in a span of 10 days at Philips Arena. Buffalo claimed a 4-1 win on Atlanta's home ice on Oct. 20, with Tyler Myers netting the game-winner on a power play and Sabres defensemen accounting for 6 points.

Big Story: Chris Mason continues to shoulder the load in goal for the Thrashers -- it's expected he'll play in his 10th straight game and make his ninth consecutive start on Friday. Backup Peter Mannino played two periods in relief on Oct. 22 against the Lightning, but otherwise it's been all Mason, all the time since Ondrej Pavelec went down in the season opener. Pavelec made a rehab start for Chicago of the AHL on Wednesday, stopping 19 of 22 shots in a 4-1 loss to Oklahoma City. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports Pavelec is in line to start for the Thrashers on Saturday in St. Louis.

TEAM SCOPE:

Sabres: This is the first of a back-to-back set for Buffalo, which concludes its four-game road trip Saturday night in Dallas. The Sabres have split the first two, routing the Devils last Saturday but falling 6-3 to the Flyers on Tuesday. Their defensemen continued to chip in offensively, as Myers scored another power-play goal and Steve Montador added a third-period tally that cut the Philadelphia lead to 5-3, but Buffalo could draw no closer.

"It's a tough one to take, but we have to figure out how to play a full game like we did the last 10 minutes of that game," Myers told the Buffalo News. "Until we do that, we're going to end up on the losing end of games."

Thrashers: Six different players scored goals and 11 collected points for Atlanta in a 6-4 win Wednesday over the New York Rangers. That included forwards Bryan Little, Niclas Bergfors and Eric Boulton each picking up his first goal of the season. While Boulton is valued more for his physical play, Little and Bergfors are guys the Thrashers will look to for goals here and there if they are going to be a contending team this season.

"We play pretty well and there are games where we've been really good for the majority of the game, but we're counting on goals from a lot of people that have been considered third- and fourth-line players," coach Craig Ramsay said. "I don't think they are and they're showing that they're not, but if we can get our offensively-gifted people to score, what a difference it can make. It did tonight."

Who's Hot: After a slow start, Thomas Vanek has 4 goals in as many games for the Sabres. Myers has goals in consecutive games and three of his last four. Leading scorer Derek Roy (5-6-11) has 4 assists in his last two games.

Andrew Ladd had an empty-net goal and an assist for the Thrashers on Wednesday, giving him 3 goals and 5 assists during a six-game points streak. He leads the team in scoring with 10 points. Evander Kane has 3 goals in his last two games and a team-leading 6 goals this season.

Injury Report: Buffalo hopes to have defenseman Shaone Morrisonn (groin) back in the lineup, while fellow blueliner Andrej Sekera (upper body) is day-to-day. Forward Jason Pominville has started skating as he recovers from a concussion. … Atlanta defensemen Zach Bogosian (shoulder) and Freddy Meyer (undisclosed) missed Wednesday's game and are day-to-day.

Stat Pack: The Sabres continue to put pucks on net, ranking sixth in the NHL with an average of 33.7 shots per game. The Thrashers, meanwhile, are allowing 36.6 shots per game -- only the Ducks (39.7) force their goaltenders to face more rubber.

Puck Drop: In spite of its overall record, Buffalo is actually a winning team on the road (3-2-0) and has already left Atlanta with two points once this month.


CANADIENS (6-2-1) at ISLANDERS (4-3-2)

TV -- RDS (HD), TSN-HABS (HD), MSG PLUS 2

Season Series -- This is the second of four games between the two clubs and the trailing end of a home-and-home series. The Islanders and the Canadiens met on Wednesday in Montreal with the Habs taking a 5-3 victory.

Big Story -- With their win on Wednesday, the Habs moved into first place in the Eastern Conference and tied the Lightning in points with 13. They outplayed the Islanders on Wednesday, outshooting them 35-21 and getting offense from all their lines. Even goaltender Carey Price picked up an assist. But on Friday it will be backup Alex Auld who will get his first start of the season for Montreal.

"I've been waiting for this, and I'm really happy to get to play. Whenever you make your first start with a new team it's always an exciting moment," Auld said. "I think that maybe a few years ago earlier on in my career I would dwelled more on having waited his long before getting a start, but now I take things day by day, game by game. I focus only on the games that I'm going to play. When you concentrate too much on the games you're not playing, you're not really ready to go when your turn comes. So that's the approach I've taken over the past couple of weeks -- keep focused and stay sharp."

TEAM SCOPE:

Canadiens -- Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kosyn and Jeff Halpern each had a goal and an assist on Wednesday in the Canadiens' victory. The line of Plekanec, Kosyn and Mike Cammalleri has been flying this season and has already accumulated 25 points in the first nine games. Halpern, off to a fast start with 3 goals and 2 assists, was praised for his efforts by coach Jacques Martin.

Mathieu Darche opened the night's scoring in the first for his first of the season and Travis Moen followed with a shorthanded goal. And while the offense has been clicking, the Habs still struggle on the power play, going 0-for-3 on Wednesday and 2-32 for the season.

"Our guys are playing well offensively and I think that's stemming from playing well defensively," said Price, who finished with 18 saves. "That's where we’re getting our chances from, coming back, protecting our house and attacking from there."

Islanders -- While the Islanders struggled on Wednesday, they still found the back of the net and there were several positives to draw from, especially on the power play. James Wisniewski scored with the man advantage and assisted on John Tavares' power-play tally. The Isles have had power-play goals in six straight games.

Where they failed to make an impact was is the amount of shots that were taken. New York has been limited to 25 shots or fewer in six of their last seven games. Meanwhile, they have allowed at least 30 shots in their last five. Dwayne Roloson finished the night with 29 saves, including several impressive stops on breakaways and the denial of Benoit Pouliot on a penalty shot.

"We didn't skate, we didn't make it harder for the opposition to make questionable decisions with the puck," coach Scott Gordon said. "If you're going to allow them to make skilled plays all the time, they have some pretty good skill over there and they're going to make them."

Who's Hot -- Kosyn had a two-point night Wednesday for the fourth time this season and for a third straight game. Cammalleri, while held scoreless on Wednesday, leads the League in plus-minus with a plus-9, while Price's 6 wins tie him for the League lead with Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth.

Wisniewski leads all defensemen in the NHL in points with 2 goals and 9 assists, while Tavares matched a career high on Wednesday extending his points streak to five games, with 6 goals and 2 assists in that span.

Injury Report -- Montreal defenseman Andrei Markov (right MCL surgery) is still out, but is expected to make his return against the Panthers on Saturday. The Islanders, on the other hand, have a lengthier injury list. Defenseman Mark Streit (left shoulder surgery) and forwards Kyle Okposo (right shoulder surgery) and Rob Schremp (strained lower back) are on the injured reserve, while forwards Michael Grabner (groin) and Trent Hunter (foot) are questionable for Friday.

Stat Pack -- The Canadiens have a 31-30-6-3 record while on the road playing the Islanders.

Puck Drop -- "We've got to make sure that we stay humble. We have to keep doing what's making us successful, and that's working hard." -- Price after the Habs' victory on Wednesday.

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

ICE PICKS

Friday's Best NHL Bets

Buffalo Sabres at Atlanta Thrashers (+101, 5.5)

The Sabres have little to fear in Atlanta.

Buffalo has won three of five road games this season and already won in Atlanta once this year, 4-1. The key to that victory on Oct. 20 was capitalizing on even-strength chances.

The team got 5-on-5 goals from Tyler Ennis, Thomas Vanek and Cody McCormick. Coupled with a power play tally from Tyler Myers, and the Thrashers simply couldn’t skate with Buffalo. For the game, the Sabres outshot Atlanta, 42-18 and dominated possession for much of the evening.

"Buffalo is a hard working team, which is somewhat of the identity we want to take on, and we didn't do that tonight," Atlanta goalie Chris Mason told reporters. "Neutral-zone issues -- teams like Buffalo will keep coming at you and take advantage of your mistakes."

Meantime, Atlanta has dropped three of four games and allowed an average of more than four goals per game over that stretch.

Pick: Buffalo Sabres


Montreal Canadiens at New York Islanders (-125, 5.5)

These two teams have no problems with heating up the ice.

While the Canadiens are 3-5 against the total -- the team does typically see higher totals -- the Islanders have done a solid job of playing wide-open, high-scoring games. New York is 5-4 against the number this season and has seen the over hit in 12 of its past 17 games overall dating back to last year.

Recently, the Canadiens have seen two of their past three top the number while three of five have hit the over for the Islanders.

The key for the Islanders has been the return of star forward John Tavares, who has six goals and two assists the past two weeks. For the Canadiens, Montreal has been led by the offensive outburst of left wing Mike Cammalleri, who has three goals and three assists this year.

Expect for Cammalleri and Tavares to add to their totals tonight.

Pick: Over

 

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Bettors' Best Friend (BBF): Friday's Wagering Tips

Line To Watch

West Virginia at Connecticut: The home team opened as a 7-point underdog, but that line has since shrunk to 6-points with most services.

Lakers at Suns: The total opened at 212 but that figure has since shrunk to 210.

Who’s Hot

The over is 14-3 in Connecticut’s past 17 home games.

The Islanders are 8-3 in their past 11 home games.

The over is 18-5 in the Oilers past 23 road games.

The over is 8-2 in the Thunders past 10 road games.

Who’s Not

The Devils are 2-11 in their past 13 games.

The Sabres are 2-7 in their past nine.

The under is 7-1 in the Timberwolves past eight against the Eastern Conference.

The Magic is 7-2 ATS in its past nine road games.

Key Stat
4 – Teams last year to win at least 50 games in the Northwest Division, the most of any division in the NBA. The Jazz, Thunder, Nuggets, Trailblazers and Timberwolves are a combined 4-2 to start the season, with one loss coming in the division.

Injury That Shouldn’t Be Overlooked

Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said on Thursday that winger Marian Hossa will be out "likely up to a couple of weeks" after suffering an upper-body injury, according to the Chicago Tribune. Hossa left Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Kings in the second period with an apparent arm or shoulder injury in the second period. Quenneville said the injury was "not of a serious nature" but refused to give specifics. Hossa was the team's second-leading scorer with 11 points.

Game Of The Day

West Virginia Mountaineers at Connecticut Huskies (-6, 45)

Notable Quotable

"I think sometimes our expectations are so high for ourselves that if things don't go perfect then you have a lot of stuff to gripe about. But at the end of the day, we won by plenty of points." -- Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore on his team’s lackluster, 49-20 win over Louisiana Tech.

Notes And Tips

New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni has named rookie Landry Fields the team’s starter at shooting guard. Fields, a rookie out of Stanford, dropped 11 points and snagged four caroms in 30 minutes in a season-opening win over Toronto. This is a surprise move as veteran swingman, Wilson Chandler, who scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 29 minutes, was relegated to the bench and appears be taking a role as the team’s sixth man.

Don’t look now, but the St. Louis Blues might start singing their namesake very soon. The team is off to a strong, 4-1-2 start, but must continue its hot streak without defenseman Roman Polak. The 24-year-old Eastern European skater notched one goal and was plus-2 with six PIM through seven games, but more importantly was averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time per game. However, Polak will require surgery on his injured wrist and will be out indefinitely, leaving St. Louis shorthanded on the blue line.

At least one player is happy to see Mathias Kiwanuka remain sidelined for the rest of the season. Since the hybrid linebacker-defensive end was injured earlier this year, end Osi Umenyiora has been a pass rushing fiend, amassing seven sacks and six forced fumbles. Also since going down with his injury, the Giants defense has been streaking, holding the Bears to only three points, but giving up 35 to the Cowboys. Overall, the team is 4-0 SU since the Kiwanuka injury.

 

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MARC LAWRENCE PLAYBOOK

Friday, October 29
West Virginia over UCONN by 7

 

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NELLY'S

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2010
West Virginia (-7) CONNECTICUT 7:00 PM
The Huskies were in a very tough position last week as starting QB Cody Endres was dismissed from the team on Wednesday. Rather than going with the more experienced senior Zach Frazer Connecticut started freshman Michael Box last week and the results were not good for the Huskies with either signal caller, shutout at Louisville. Another Big East team had a worse result however as conference favorite West Virginia lost to Syracuse. The Mountaineers led 14-10 after the first quarter but did not score again as the productive offense was held to just 284 yards. QB Geno Smith did have three interceptions but they all came early in the game and neither team scored at all in the entire second half. West Virginia beat Connecticut by just four last year but won 35-13 in the last trip to Storrs. The underdog is the far better rushing team in this match-up and an upset is possible. WVA BY 3

 

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STATFOX Platinum Sheet

10/29/2010
west Virginia at connecticut
The home dog is a tempt- ing play here considering UConn is 3-0 at Rentschler Field, but those three opponents have been weak (Texas Southern, Buffalo and Vanderbilt). The Huskies were shut
out by Louisville last week gaining a mere 195 total yards. Their top QB has been kicked off the team and their other two signal callers are no good. WVU will stack the box to stop RB Jordan Todman while giving the Huskies plenty of Noel Devine on offense. Devine rushed for 178 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries in the Mountaineers’ 28-24 win over Connecticut last year.
play: W Virginia -7.5

 

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GOLDSHEET

*West Virginia 27 - CONNECTICUT 16—It’s clear that new UConn QB Box isn’t ready for prime time, as the raw RS frosh completed just 4 of 12 for 35 yards with no TDP & 1 int. during shutout loss at Louisville last week. Even if Husky star RB Todman triumphs in individual battle vs. Mountaineer counterpart Devine, visiting West Virginia and talented soph signal-caller Geno Smith likely to win war.

 

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GOLDSHEET EXTRA

WEST VIRGINIA at UCONN (Friday, October 29)...Edsall 0-6 SU vs. WVU but Huskies were able to finally get cover vs. Mounties LY after dropping previous 5 vs. number since ‘04. UConn 0-3 SU and vs. line all-time vs. Mounties. Note Edsall 10-2 as home dog since ‘05. Tech edge-slight to WVU, based on series trends.

 

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NCAA DUNKEL

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29

Game 105-106: West Virginia at Connecticut (8:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: West Virginia 97.286; Connecticut 88.307
Dunkel Line: West Virginia by 9; 41
Vegas Line: West Virginia by 6; 46
Dunkel Pick: West Virginia (-6); Under

 

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SPORTS BETTING PROFESSOR

Friday's NCAAF Pick:

Connecticut +7

 

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GOLDRUSHCAPPING

4 unit - Atlanta Hawks -3.5 / 7pm
3 unit - Orlando Magic @ Miami Heat - Over 185 / 8pm
4 unit - Carolina Hurricanes @ NY Rangers - Over 5.5 / 7pm
3 unit - Anaheim Ducks -125 / 10pm
3 unit - West Virginia Mountaineers -6 / 8pm

 

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THE PREDICTION MACHINE

SELECTIONS ARE BOLD

105 8:00 PM WVU @ UCONN -6.5 9.5 57.1%
106 8:00 PM WVU @ UCONN 45.5 40.6 Under 61.2 %

 

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Gamblers Data (Fletcher)

5* WVU-6

 

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Hondo

Florida State flopped in Raleigh last night, which snapped Hondo's winning streak at two and raised his deficit to 2,855 bedrosians.

Today, Mr. Aitch is riding shotgun at Belmont with Vic C., the prudent Post prognosticator who urges a play on Flask in the third. That's worth a 10-unit shot. Cheers!