Gordon, New Mexico dominate No. 11 UNLV

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/18/2012 - Albuquerque, NM (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drew Gordon poured in 27 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, powering New Mexico to a 65-45 rout of 11th-ranked UNLV at the Pit on Saturday.

Tony Snell added 12 points for the Lobos (22-4, 8-2 Mountain West), who have solidified their hold of first place in the Mountain West Conference. New Mexico has won seven straight since dropping back-to-back games against league standouts San Diego State and UNLV in mid-January.

"I couldn't be more pleased with our basketball team," said New Mexico head coach Steve Alfrod. "Our guys have been amazing. We still have a lot to do and a lot to prove; this race is far from over with. I don't know if we are the best team in this league yet but there is no team in the last month that has guarded the way that we have guarded."

The Lobos avenged the 75-70 home loss to San Diego State on January 18 with a 77-67 win in California on Wednesday and again had revenge on their minds entering Saturday's contest, as the Runnin' Rebels had claimed an 80-63 win over New Mexico on January 21 in Las Vegas.

Saturday's game was close throughout until Gordon's jumper snapped a 36-36 tie with just under 12 minutes to play. It was all Lobos from there.

Gordon's bucket ignited a run of 12 straight New Mexico points. Snell keyed it with a three-pointer and a dunk before setting up Gordon's layup for a 48-36 advantage.

After Quintrell Thomas made a free throw for UNLV, Gordon scored the next four points to extend the New Mexico cushion to 15 with 7 1/2 minutes remaining.

The Rebels countered with the next five to pull within 10, but Anthony Marshall's layup was the last field goal for the visitors. It came with 6 1/2 minutes to play and the Lobos held the Rebels to just three free throws the rest of the way.

Marshall finished with 18 points and was the only UNLV player to reach double figures. The Runnin' Rebels (22-6, 6-4) have lost two in a row and three of their last four. Each of the three losses have come away from Las Vegas, dropping UNLV to 6-6 in true road games.

"The game seemed eerily similar to the game at Thomas and Mack Center where it is a close game a competitive game and the home team gets some stops and makes some big baskets early in the second half," said UNLV head coach Dave Rice.

Mike Moser, UNLV's leading scorer, made just 3-of-10 shots and scored eight points -- seven below his season average. Chace Stanback, the Runnin' Rebels' second-leading scorer at 13.5 points per game, had just four.

UNLV held the biggest lead of a tight first half after a Stanback three -- his lone basket of the game -- gave the Rebels a 21-13 advantage with just over seven minutes remaining. The Lobos answered with the next 10. Snell's three tied it and A.J. Hardeman followed with a putback layup on the next trip to give New Mexico a 23-21 edge.

The Rebels, though, went into the break with a 27-26 lead.

Game Notes

Gordon, coming off a 17-point, 17-rebound effort against SDSU, posted his second straight double-double and the 26th of his career...UNLV had won three straight over New Mexico and two in a row at the Pit. The Runnin' Rebels still lead the overall series, 28-16...New Mexico is 10-5 against ranked opponents under head coach Steve Alford.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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