Daily Sports Roundup
Saturday, January 2
Today
in the Daily Sports Roundup: Oklahoma State takes on Mississippi in the
Cotton Bowl, while the Cavs play the Nets, and the Penguins meet the
Lightning.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
There
are five bowl games on the schedule for Saturday, with South Florida
vs. Northern Illinois in the International Bowl, South Carolina vs.
Connecticut in the Papa John's.com Bowl, Arkansas vs. East Carolina in
the Liberty Bowl, Michigan State vs. Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl, and
Oklahoma State vs. Mississippi in the Cotton Bowl. The No. 18 Cowboys
(9-3 SU, 5-5-1 ATS) are the only ranked team in action on Saturday, and
they'll be looking to bounce back from a disappointing 27-0 loss to
Oklahoma. Mississippi, though, is the 3-point favorite.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The
NBA's 12-game slate for Saturday includes a huge mismatch in New
Jersey, with the Nets (3-29 SU, 10-21-1 ATS) playing host to LeBron
James and the Cavaliers (26-8 SU, 18-16 ATS). Cleveland is coming off a
106-101 win over Atlanta on Wednesday night, with James pouring in 48
points to go along with 10 rebounds in that contest. New Jersey picked
up a rare win in their last outing, beating New York 104-95 on
Wednesday. Yi Jianlian had 22 points in that victory.
Also on
the NBA hardwood on Saturday: Charlotte at Miami, San Antonio at
Washington, Minnesota at Indiana, Toronto at Boston, Orlando at
Chicago, Houston at New Orleans, Oklahoma City at Milwaukee, Denver at
Utah, Golden State at Portland, Dallas at Sacramento, and Memphis at
Phoenix. The Suns (21-12 SU, 19-13-1 ATS) won their second straight
game last time out, getting past Boston 116-98 on Wednesday. Amare
Stoudemire had 26 points on the day.
Top-10 teams in action
around college basketball on Saturday include No. 5 Syracuse (vs.
Pittsburgh), No. 10 Connecticut (vs. Notre Dame), No. 3 Kentucky (vs.
Louisville), No. 8 Villanova (at Marquette), No. 2 Texas (vs. TAMU
Corpus Christi), and No. 1 Kansas (at No. 18 Temple). As well, a second
ranked matchup on the slate has No. 11 Michigan State at No. 25
Northwestern. The Spartans (10-3 SU, 3-9 ATS) got past Texas Arlington
by a score of 87-68 last time out, and the Wildcats (10-2 SU, 6-3 ATS)
fell 89-83 to Illinois on Wednesday.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally,
the NHL has a dozen games on the Saturday schedule, with Carolina at
the Rangers, Vancouver at Dallas, Washington at Los Angeles, Toronto at
Calgary, Atlanta at the Islanders, Colorado at Columbus, Anaheim at
Nashville, Detroit at Phoenix, Chicago at St. Louis, New Jersey at
Minnesota, Edmonton at San Jose, and Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay. The
26-14-1 Penguins are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Devils in their last
game on Wednesday night, while the 15-15-10 Lightning were beaten by a
score of 2-1 in overtime by the Habs on Wednesday.
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