North Carolina downs Maryland

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/04/2012 - College Park, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Zeller scored 22 points and Harrison Barnes had 18, as No. 5 North Carolina used a late surge to down Maryland, 83-74, at Comcast Center on Saturday.

The Tar Heels (20-3, 7-1 ACC) had lost five of their last seven trips to College Park, but got 17 points and 12 rebounds from John Henson and a career- high 16 assists from Kendall Marshall to earn the victory. They have won five straight since a disappointing 90-57 loss at Florida State.

North Carolina will host in-state rival No. 5 Duke on Wednesday night.

Terrell Stoglin scored 20 points to pace the Terrapins (13-9, 3-5), who have dropped five of their last six. They were coming off a double-overtime loss to Miami on Wednesday. Alex Len chipped in 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

The Terrapins were in control for the majority of the game, They took a 40-37 lead into the break on Len's put-back at the buzzer and were up 57-52 with 11 1/2 minutes to go.

Then North Carolina came to life, reeling off seven straight to take its first lead since early in the first half. Barnes bookended the spurt with a jumper and a three-pointer and Henson had a dunk in between, as the Tar Heels went on top, 59-57.

They led the rest of the way, although the margin wasn't a comfortable one.

Stoglin hit a jumper to make it a one-point game, 70-69, with 3 1/2 minutes left. But the Tar Heels leaned on their superior size to maintain the slight edge, scoring four straight on put-backs by P.J. Hairston and Henson.

James Padgett's free throw made it 74-70 and the Terrapins had a chance to further cut into the deficit after Reggie Bullock missed an ill-advised, rushed layup. Stoglin failed to capitalize, however, missing a three-pointer and Barnes sunk a pull-up jumper out of a timeout to put UNC up 76-70 with 1:06 to play.

The Tar Heels made 5-of-6 free throws the rest of the way and Henson threw down a slam at the buzzer to cap the scoring.

Game Notes

The Tar Heels sealed their eighth straight 20-win season under head coach Roy Williams with the victory. They have 54 20-win seasons in program history...The Tar Heels lead the all-time series with the Terrapins, 116-57...Bullock had 11 points.

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

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