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New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Syracuse remained a solid No. 1 Monday in the Associated Press college basketball poll. The undefeated Orange (13-0) received 54 first-place votes, up one from last week, after beating Bucknell and Tulane in their final non-conference games.

 

No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Kentucky and No. 4 Louisville all received first-place votes and remained in their positions from last week. So did No. 5 North Carolina, No. 6 Baylor and No. 7 Duke.

 

No. 24 Harvard was in the AP poll for only the second time. It lost its first- ever game as a ranked team to Connecticut three weeks ago and fell out of the poll.

 

As for the Badgers, they too have spent the majority of their non-conference slate at home, ensconced in the Kohl Center where they have recorded eight wins in nine tries. On December 23, the team crushed Mississippi Valley State in a 79-45 final for their fifth consecutive win. Wisconsin, which has lost only to Marquette (61-54) and North Carolina (60-57), moved up two spaces yesterday in the most current AP top-25 rankings.

 

Against Mississippi Valley State, a team which had won just one of 10 games heading into last week's matchup, the Badgers allowed just 29.2 percent field goal efficiency, while the hosts made good on a solid 50 percent of their total shots. Jordan Taylor showed why he is considered one of the top performers at the collegiate level as he tallied 17 points, while teammates Jared Berggren and Josh Gasser chipped in with 17 and 11 points, respectively. Although he shot just 1-of-6 from the field and finished with a mere five points, Ryan Evans made an impact with his team-high 11 rebounds in the triumph. Evans leads the way on the glass overall for the program with an even seven boards per outing, his 19 blocked shots also tops on the unit. Berggren, who is second in blocks with 18, accounts for a team-best 12.5 ppg, followed by Taylor (12.2 ppg) who is responsible for 65 assists in 13 games and already has more than three times as many dishes as he does turnovers (20). Clearly the key to this team's success has been a defense which has held foes to a meager 44.7 ppg on 33.5 percent shooting from the floor and 24.2 percent behind the three-point line. Needless to say, Wisconsin entered the week ranked first in the nation in scoring defense, with only one other team (Virginia) holding opponents to less than 50 ppg.

 

South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Big East Conference slate begins tonight in South Bend for both the 22nd-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers and the hometown Notre Dame Fighting Irish, as the rivals square off at the Joyce Center. Pitt has won each of its last three Big East openers and carries an impressive 11-2 record into this affair. Unfortunately, the team is coming off a truly embarrassing and disappointing defeat, as it fell at home to Wagner on Friday by a 59-54 final to halt a nine-game winning streak.

 

Notre Dame owns a narrow 29-27 edge in the all-time series between these rivals thanks to three straight wins over the Panthers.

 

The top offensive performer for Pittsburgh is Ashton Gibbs, as he is netting 17.2 ppg despite his disappointing 37.7 percent shooting from the field. Gibbs gets a significant amount of help from fellow guard Tray Woodall, who checks in with 14.1 ppg and over eight assists per contest. Woodall however, is sidelined indefinitely due to injury. Rounding out a trio of double-digit scorers is Nasir Robinson with 12.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg, and he is shooting a blistering 68.3 percent from the field. The Panthers are shooting 49.3 percent as a team while scoring 76.1 ppg, and they are limiting opponents to 64.8 ppg. Unfortunately, Pitt fell 17 points shy of its current average in the loss to Wagner, as game in which the club shot a dismal 39.6 percent overall and 2- of-15 from three-point range. The Panthers finished with only 10 assists against 18 turnovers and even struggled from the foul line.

 

As for Virginia, it has reeled off eight consecutive victories since its only loss of the season, a two-point setback to TCU on a neutral court. The Cavaliers beat Seattle in an 83-77 final last Wednesday and enter tonight's clash with a 10-1 overall record, including a 6-0 mark at home.

 

Virginia crushed UMES in the only previous meeting between the programs back in 2007.

comments

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•    It's ok Sydney, 200 extra taxis on tonight. Good luck getting home! Pffft.

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•    Ohh yeaah & we are playing on field 2 :) since beena doesnt know how too tell no one haha

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•    Thick socks: 1% To be warm. 1% To be comfortable. 98% To slide across floor like a freakin' Ninja!

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•    I got the last laugh last night. Florida State beat Notre Dame. #SuckItKyle

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•    love and other drugs home

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•    Bae, I'm going home now. I can't feel my fingers. Tweet you in a few :)

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•    I got 22,272 points while escaping from demon monkeys in Temple Run. this is hard :/

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•    Sat 01:39: Periods of rain ending before morning then cloudy with 60 percent chance of drizzle. Temperature steady near plus 1.

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•    KJ & Truck a combined 8-32 from the field 2nite... and u expect 2 win? 17 TOs... u expect 2 win? 2 scoreless droughts of 5+ mins.. come on.

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