Bobcats easily handle Bulls, win fourth straight

Basketball Betting Lines

03/03/2009 - Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raymond Felton scored 18 points and doled out nine assists to lead the Bobcats to their season-high fourth consecutive win with a 96-80 rout of the Bulls.

Raja Bell also tallied 18 points for Charlotte, which moved to 1-0 on a short two-game homestand. Emeka Okafor tallied 14 points and 10 rebounds in the win and Boris Diaw ended with 13 points and six helpers.

Tyrus Thomas donated 14 points and 12 boards for Chicago, which has dropped four of its last six games. Ben Gordon also gave 14 points, while Derrick Rose and Brad Miller notched 13 points apiece.

The Bulls, who have lost four straight on the road, were without the services of forwards Luol Deng and Tim Thomas. Deng and Thomas did not play due to leg injuries.

The Bobcats built a 32-24 lead after the first quarter and ballooned that to 56-43 at the break.

Baskets from John Salmons and Rose cut it to 68-60 late in the third period. However, Gerald Wallace responded with a jumper and Felton nailed a three- pointer, as the Bobcats closed the quarter on an 11-2 run en route to a 79-62 lead heading into the final 12 minutes.

The home team's lead hovered in the high-teens throughout the fourth quarter, as the Bobcats cruised to an easy win.

Game Notes

The Bulls shot 39 percent from the field while the Bobcats hit at a 48.7 percent clip...The Bobcats will also host the Atlanta Hawks on the homestand and are 17-15 at home this season...Chicago fell to 10-23 away from the Windy City this season...Charlotte also defeated Chicago, 110-101, in overtime on December 16 this season down south and has now won three straight after losing the previous four matchups. The Bulls are 11-6 all-time in this series and had won five of the eight meetings in Charlotte.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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