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New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Syracuse remained a solid No. 1 Monday in the Associated Press college basketball poll. The undefeated Orange (13-0) received 54 first-place votes, up one from last week, after beating Bucknell and Tulane in their final non-conference games.
Missouri, Connecticut and Florida rounded out the top 10 and were followed by Wisconsin, Georgetown, Indiana, Marquette, Mississippi State, Michigan State, Kansas, Michigan, UNLV, Murray State, Creighton, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Harvard and San Diego State to finish the top 25.
No. 24 Harvard was in the AP poll for only the second time. It lost its first- ever game as a ranked team to Connecticut three weeks ago and fell out of the poll.
As for the Badgers, they too have spent the majority of their non-conference slate at home, ensconced in the Kohl Center where they have recorded eight wins in nine tries. On December 23, the team crushed Mississippi Valley State in a 79-45 final for their fifth consecutive win. Wisconsin, which has lost only to Marquette (61-54) and North Carolina (60-57), moved up two spaces yesterday in the most current AP top-25 rankings.
Against Mississippi Valley State, a team which had won just one of 10 games heading into last week's matchup, the Badgers allowed just 29.2 percent field goal efficiency, while the hosts made good on a solid 50 percent of their total shots. Jordan Taylor showed why he is considered one of the top performers at the collegiate level as he tallied 17 points, while teammates Jared Berggren and Josh Gasser chipped in with 17 and 11 points, respectively. Although he shot just 1-of-6 from the field and finished with a mere five points, Ryan Evans made an impact with his team-high 11 rebounds in the triumph. Evans leads the way on the glass overall for the program with an even seven boards per outing, his 19 blocked shots also tops on the unit. Berggren, who is second in blocks with 18, accounts for a team-best 12.5 ppg, followed by Taylor (12.2 ppg) who is responsible for 65 assists in 13 games and already has more than three times as many dishes as he does turnovers (20). Clearly the key to this team's success has been a defense which has held foes to a meager 44.7 ppg on 33.5 percent shooting from the floor and 24.2 percent behind the three-point line. Needless to say, Wisconsin entered the week ranked first in the nation in scoring defense, with only one other team (Virginia) holding opponents to less than 50 ppg.
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Big East Conference slate begins tonight in South Bend for both the 22nd-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers and the hometown Notre Dame Fighting Irish, as the rivals square off at the Joyce Center. Pitt has won each of its last three Big East openers and carries an impressive 11-2 record into this affair. Unfortunately, the team is coming off a truly embarrassing and disappointing defeat, as it fell at home to Wagner on Friday by a 59-54 final to halt a nine-game winning streak.
As for Notre Dame, it is a rather mediocre 8-5 overall this season, but all eight home games have resulted in victory. The team has been idle since December 19 when it crushed Sacred Heart in a 106-65 final, the third win in the last four outings for the squad.
The top offensive performer for Pittsburgh is Ashton Gibbs, as he is netting 17.2 ppg despite his disappointing 37.7 percent shooting from the field. Gibbs gets a significant amount of help from fellow guard Tray Woodall, who checks in with 14.1 ppg and over eight assists per contest. Woodall however, is sidelined indefinitely due to injury. Rounding out a trio of double-digit scorers is Nasir Robinson with 12.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg, and he is shooting a blistering 68.3 percent from the field. The Panthers are shooting 49.3 percent as a team while scoring 76.1 ppg, and they are limiting opponents to 64.8 ppg. Unfortunately, Pitt fell 17 points shy of its current average in the loss to Wagner, as game in which the club shot a dismal 39.6 percent overall and 2- of-15 from three-point range. The Panthers finished with only 10 assists against 18 turnovers and even struggled from the foul line.
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Terrell Owens will address the media at a 3:15 p.m. ET news conference outside the Cowboys' practice facility after an internal police report indicated he tried to kill himself by overdosing on prescription pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after a friend intervened.
The Dallas police report said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"
Owens left the hospital late Wednesday morning, giving reporters a "thumbs up" but making no comment as he was driven away in an SUV.
Michael Irvin said that Owens denied he attempted suicide and said he was rushed to the hospital as a result of an adverse reaction to medication. And a source close to Owens told Michael A. Smith that Owens wasn't attempting suicide.
NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders said he spoke with Owens shortly before his release from the hospital and that Owens was in good spirits.
"The fact that it has been reported a suicide attempt, he's laughed at that notion. It was a case that medication that was taken wasn't accepted well in his system with the other vitamins he's on," Sanders said.
The series of events began a little before 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Owens' publicist, Kim Etheredge, said she was at Owens' home when he took pain medicine for his broken right hand. Concerned by how he began acting, Etheredge said in various interviews Wednesday with Dallas-area media that she called 911. Owens was taken to a hospital, with Etheredge saying it was an allergic reaction to the medicine.
But early Wednesday, several media outlets received a police report -- that had yet to be released by the authorities -- saying Owens had attempted suicide by overdosing on the painkillers, even putting two more pills into his mouth after an unidentified friend intervened.
The police document, first reported by WFAA-TV, said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"
When officially released by police, about half the document was blacked out, including the phrases "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication" and "a drug overdose," as well as the details of Owens having two pills pried from his mouth and Owens saying "Yes" when asked if he intended to harm himself.
Etheredge, who said she was the friend cited in the police document, told Dallas-area media Wednesday that the police got the story wrong.
The tape of the 911 call could help clear things up. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get its contents, but fire department officials said it would not be available before late Wednesday.
The police report said the 32-year-old Owens told his friend "that he was depressed." Details of the police report were first reported by WFAA-TV.
The friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said.
Using her fingers, the friend attempted to pry them out of Owens' mouth. Owens told police he had taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied before the incident.
Etheredge told the Star-Telegram that Owens was "fine."
Etheredge said she called 911 because Owens was groggy and lethargic. After taking some supplements "it kicked in a reaction" with the painkillers, she told the Star-Telegram.
"Here's a person whose body is so clean, it really had a negative reaction to the medication and supplements he was taking," Etheridge told The Morning News. "Thank goodness someone was there to call an ambulance."
Police Lt. Rick Watson said he could only confirm that paramedics called police to say they were taking Owens to the hospital. He said no more details would come from the police because no laws were broken.
It is not a crime in Texas for a person to attempt suicide.
"This is a high-profile person. We looked into it and we determined it is not a criminal offense," Watson said. "This a medical type of situation that occurred."
Watson and fire department spokesman Joel Lavender cited privacy laws for the lack of information they could provide. Lavender said more details could come from the 911 call. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get the contents of the call.
"Let's just look at the tape, review the tape," Lavender said. "I'll give you an honest answer once I know something."
At the police news conference, Watson released a version of the police narrative with certain sections blacked out. The full report was obtained by several news outlets and reported first by WFAA. The AP received the full version from WFAA.
According to the police report, Dallas Fire and Rescue was called regarding someone "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication." Officers arrived to find Owens being stabilized by ambulance workers, who then took him to Baylor University Medical Center.
Owens was hospitalized late Tuesday because of what his publicist said was an allergic reaction to pain medicine he was taking for a broken hand. Doctors reportedly tried to induce vomiting.
Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it.
When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill -- who mostly deals with troubled players -- said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems.
He missed most of training camp, and three of four preseason games, because of a hamstring injury. He was late for work during his recovery and was fined for it, but Owens laughed it off, saying he overslept. He said it had happened before, though not with Dallas, and would probably happen again.
Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger during a game a week ago Sunday. The next day, doctors screwed in a plate so the bone could heal without fear of further damage. Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said last week that the pain medicine made Owens ill.
Owens had not practiced since the injury, but because Dallas had a bye this past weekend he did not miss a game. He was expected to practice Wednesday, and Parcells had said there was a chance Owens could play Sunday against Tennessee.
Owens had been especially looking forward to the Cowboys' game after that -- Oct. 8, in Philadelphia, against the team that dumped him midway through last season only months after he helped them nearly win the Super Bowl.
Owens was seen laughing and joking on the practice field Tuesday morning. He chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room in the afternoon and seemed fine. A 2-inch scar on the top of his hand was puffy but not wrapped, and he said the swelling was doing down.
While in the locker room, he took a pill from a white paper bag and looked at another medicine bottle that was in the bag. He also called a business partner about a towel-wrap venture they're starting and joked to TV cameras that he wasn't talking until Wednesday and it was only Tuesday.
"My little boy knows better than that," he said, laughing, as he plopped onto a sofa in the middle of the locker room.
Also Tuesday, Owens was involved in launching a national campaign for the National Alliance to End Abuse, an organization aimed at helping at-risk youngsters. He appeared at a high school Tuesday morning and was scheduled to visit others but had to cancel because of changes in the team's practice schedule.
Owens has played two games for the Cowboys, catching nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. For updated football betting lines and Dallas Cowboy Superbowl odds visit online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
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