Shockers can claim MVC title with win over Redbirds
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
02/22/2012 - Normal, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 19th-ranked Wichita State Shockers set their sights on the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title, as they head to Redbird Arena to take on Illinois State in conference bout.
This will be the second encounter this season and 69th in history between Wichita State and the Redbirds. Illinois State holds a 36-32 lead in the rivalry, but the Shockers have won five straight in the series. Wichita State won the first meeting between these programs this season, 65-62 at Charles Koch Arena on Jan. 10th, as it shot 41.5 percent from the floor and held Illinois State to 39.6 percent shooting.
WSU is a win away from outright ownership of the MVC title. Head coach Gregg Marshall had done a terrific job leading the program to its first ranking since 2006-2007. The Shockers won for the 14th time in 15 tries on Saturday as they topped Davidson, 91-74 in non-conference action behind 63.6 percent shooting from the floor. Wichita State has only lost once in a true road game this season. The Shockers could not be playing any better coming into today, as they have outscored their last four opponents by an average of 19.5 ppg.
The Shockers are led by the trio of Garrett Stutz, Joe Ragland, and Toure Murry. Stutz is carrying team-high averages of 14.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Ragland contributes 13.7 points and 3.3 assists per game, while Murry adds 12.1 points and 3.3 assists per contest. Ragland had an incredible outing against Davidson in Saturday's BracketBusters, as he finished with 30 points and seven rebounds. Murry added 16 points and Stutz made an impact on the defensive end with three blocked shots to help the Shockers past the Wildcats.
Illinois State snapped a two-game losing streak its last time out with a 79-75 victory over Oakland on Saturday. Tim Jankovich's team is now 17-11 overall and 8-8 in league action with the win. The Redbirds have not had very much success versus ranked foes, as they are currently riding a 23-game losing streak against top 25 teams. The last ISU win over a ranked opponent came in Dec. 29th, 1987 versus Iowa. The Redbirds came up just short on the road in their first matchup with WSU, and they have outscored their opponents by an average of 4.8 ppg.
Jackie Carmichael is the go-to-guy for the Redbirds, as he is averaging team- bests of 13.8 points and 9.3 boards per game. Tyler Brown is adding 13.1 ppg while Jon Ekey and Nic Moore both get into the mix on the offensive end as well. Carmichael was phenomenal in ISU's win over Oakland on Saturday, as he led the way with 25 points and 19 rebounds. Ekey chipped in 19 points and John Wilkins had 12 in the winning effort.
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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK
NFL Football Trash TalkTrash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
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