Sunday, March 27, 2005
Sports books abuzz over wild comebacks
It seems logical enough that Illinois guard Deron Williams will lead his team into a Final Four game against Louisville. But for that matchup to materialize, an amazing sequence of events had to unfold Saturday, and the shock waves were felt throughout local sports books.
The Fighting Illini rallied from a 15-point deficit with four minutes left to beat Arizona 90-89 in overtime. That was after the Cardinals staged a comeback from 20 points down to beat West Virginia 93-85 in overtime.
Nobody ever said it's easy to pick winners in the NCAA Tournament, but those two games took bettors on a roller-coaster ride of emotions.
"It was a phenomenal atmosphere in the book with these two comebacks and all the great shots that were being made," Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay said. "Have you seen two better games back to back like that?"
The Hilton made Illinois a 1 1/2-point favorite over Louisville in next Saturday's semifinals at St. Louis. Stardust sports book director Bob Scucci opened the line at 2 and it was bet to 2 1/2. The total ranged from 144 to 147 at various books.
The top-seeded Illini (36-1) were left for dead before Williams, who scored a team-high 22 points, capped a 20-5 run with a 3-pointer in the last minute. The Wildcats covered as 4 1/2-point underdogs, but it was a bad beat for those who bet them to win on the money line.
"There were a lot of Illinois fans in there sweating out the game. They were pretty quiet before that comeback," Kornegay said.
The Cardinals (33-4) survived a 3-point barrage by the Mountaineers, who hit 18 of 27 from long range, and followed Taquan Dean and Larry O'Bannon to an inspirational victory of their own.
Louisville even had a chance to cover the 8 1/2-point spread, but Brandon Jenkins missed a dunk with 18 seconds left and the Cardinals dribbled out the clock to win by eight, adding a strange twist to the ending.
"The place went nuts. It was funny," Kornegay said of Jenkins' missed dunk.
The other Final Four spots will be determined today. North Carolina is a 10-point favorite over Wisconsin at Syracuse, N.Y., and Kentucky is a 1 1/2-point favorite over Michigan State at Austin, Texas.
The Badgers, who allow only 60 points per game, will try to slow down the tempo against the Tar Heels, the nation's highest-scoring team at 88 points per game.
"The wise guys are on Wisconsin. All the public money is on North Carolina," Scucci said.
The Spartans are coming off a 78-68 victory over top-seeded Duke on Friday.
"Michigan State is playing its best ball of the year and it's hard to stop a team that has momentum," Scucci said. "But if both teams play their best game, I like Kentucky."
