Purdue downs PSU, captures share of Big Ten title

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - JaJuan Johnson finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, as seventh-ranked Purdue claimed a share of the Big Ten title with a 64-60 victory over Penn State.

Keaton Grant added 17 points for the Boilermakers (26-4, 14-4 Big Ten), who pulled even with Ohio State atop the conference standings and claimed a share of their first Big Ten title since 1996. Purdue also secured the second seed for the upcoming conference tourney.

Purdue did so while playing its final three games without forward Robbie Hummel, who suffered a torn ACL on February 24. The Boilermakers fell to Michigan State in their first game without Hummel, but took the final two to close out their regular season.

"It's great, especially for our players who really sacrificed a lot and battled, to be in this position and to get the job done is a great feeling," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "We've had a little bit of bad luck here with Rob's injury, so it's good to see so many smiles in that locker room, because they know this was a team effort."

Talor Battle and Chris Babb each scored 17 for the Nittany Lions (11-19, 3-15), who were coming off Thursday's two-point loss at Michigan State. Jeff Brooks ended with 12 points and seven boards in the loss.

Battle, Penn State's leading scorer, did not play the final six-plus minutes because of cramps, though the Lions nearly pulled even down the stretch.

"He just got sick. He was just sick in the stomach," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "He was very light-headed and very dizzy. He just felt horrible. He thought he was going to vomit and all of that kind of stuff, so he was back there with the doctor for the last five or six minutes."

Purdue held a 58-49 lead after Grant hit a three-pointer with 4:45 to play, but after David Jackson made 1-of-2 from the line, Babb drained a three. Andrew Jones followed with a layup to get the Lions within 58-55.

E'Twaun Moore's make from beyond the arc pushed Purdue's lead to six with a minute left, but Penn State still nearly came back. After a steal resulted in a Brooks layup with half a minute left, Grant missed the front end of a 1- and-1, then fouled Babb on a three-point try with 19.9 seconds left.

Babb sank all three attempts to bring PSU within 61-60. Two Moore free throws set the Boilermakers' lead at three, and Babb had a chance to tie on the next Lions possession. But his attempt missed, and Lions guard Tim Frazier dribbled the ball off his leg out of bounds after getting the rebound.

Johnson went to the line and made 1-of-2 to seal the victory.

Purdue held an 18-7 lead nearly midway through the first half, after Grant sank consecutive threes and Moore deposited a layup. The Boilermakers went into the break with a 30-22 lead.

Penn State got within 32-28 on a Battle three almost three minutes into the second half, but Purdue followed with the next eight points to restore a double-digit cushion.

Game Notes

Purdue never trailed...Johnson was 11-of-14 from the foul line, but the rest of his team went 2-for-7...Chris Kramer had four steals for Purdue...Penn State sank 9-of-22 three-point tries.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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