Irish down No. 15 Marquette for fourth straight win

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/04/2012 - South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pat Connaughton drained five three-pointers en route to a game-high 23 points, as Notre Dame earned its fourth straight win and snapped Marquette's seven-game winning streak with a 76-59 victory over the 15th-ranked Eagles at the Joyce Center.

Eric Atkins scored 18 points and Jerian Grant chipped in 12 for the surging Fighting Irish (15-8, 7-3 Big East), who have beaten three ranked teams as part of their winning streak. Notre Dame beat then-unbeaten and No. 1 Syracuse to start the run and also knocked off a ranked Connecticut squad in its last outing last Sunday.

Connaughton finished 5-for-8 from three-point range as part of a 9-for-12 overall effort. The Irish shot 50 percent overall and connected on 11-of-23 from three-point territory.

Conversely, Marquette made just 2-of-13 from beyond the arc and 39.1 percent overall. Darius Johnson-Odom and Vander Blue each scored 12 points for the Eagles (19-5, 8-3), who hadn't lost since a 73-66 setback at Syracuse on January 7.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.