Online gambling is a little bit different on the final of the College Basketball Invitational. Normally in a title game in college hoops the teams play just one game. In the CBI the teams play a best-of-three finals. VCU will be home for the first game vs. Saint Louis and they are the favorite at Internet gambling companies.
Online gambling for the first game of the CBI finals is on Monday in Richmond. Game Two will be in Saint Louis on Wednesday and game three, if needed will be on Friday. Saint Louis made the final with a 69-59 win over Princeton last Wednesday. Kwamain Mitchell and Willie Reed combined for 41 points in the win. Mitchell had 21 points and five assists, while Reed registered his ninth double-double of the season with 20 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Rams were 88-75 winners over Boston University last Wednesday. Bradford Burgess scored 20 points to lead Virginia Commonwealth. Larry Sanders added 18 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Joey Rodriguez had 19 points and five assists. Virginia Commonwealth’s defense forced 17 turnovers in the win. VCU has 25 wins this season so they are not a fluke in this tournament.
You might not be familiar with the CBI Tournament as you look at the odds at Internet gambling companies. With the NCAA Tournament and the NIT going on, the CBI kind of gets lost in the shuffle. This is the third season for the CBI Tournament and it is different with the best-of-three format. You probably are familiar with Saint Louis head coach Rick Majerus though. The former coach of Utah is doing a nice job at Saint Louis. His Billikens nearly made the NCAA Tournament. His defense was excellent against Princeton. “We were hard to score against,” said Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus. “I felt our defense was pretty good – again,”
If the Billikens are to pull off the upset in online gambling in Monday’s game they will need another big effort from Reed. He has 58 points and 28 rebounds in the three games of this tournament. “He played a good game defensively,” Majerus said about Reed in the Princeton game. “Tonight, he had more of a balance of offense and defense.” Saint Louis has the most wins they have had (23) since the 1994-95 team finished 23-8.