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02/22/2009 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charlie Villanueva scored a season-high 36 points and Ramon Sessions had 27 points and eight assists, as the Milwaukee Bucks edged the Denver Nuggets, 120-117, at the Bradley Center.
Villanueva finished 14-of-23 from the field, including 7-of-11 from three- point range, while Richard Jefferson chipped in with 17 points for the Bucks, who has won four of their last six games.
"Obviously, Charlie [Villanueva] and Ramon [Sessions] carried the offensive load for us," Bucks head coach Scott Skiles said. "We had some other guys chipping in with some points. For the most part, those two guys made the big offensive plays when we needed to have them."
Carmelo Anthony led Denver with 33 points and nine rebounds, while Chauncey Billups finished with 21 points. The Nuggets have lost two straight, including a 116-99 setback at Chicago on Friday. Despite the loss, the Nuggets finished their eight-game road trip with a 5-3 record.
Nene donated 17 points and seven boards before suffering a right knee contusion in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter after colliding with Jefferson. He will be further evaluated in Denver on Monday.
Renaldo Balkman registered 10 points and Linas Kleiza had 13 points to go along with six rebounds for Denver. Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin sat out with a sore back.
In the fourth quarter and the game tied at 96, neither team was able to pull away by more than three points at any stage of the period. Charlie Bell's two from the foul line gave the Bucks a 112-111 lead with 3:08 to play.
After both teams came up empty the next two trips down the floor, Anthony's two free throws put the Nuggets back in front by a point. Milwaukee would respond with a Jefferson layup to reclaim a one-point edge at 114-113 with 1:39 left.
The Bucks got multiple attempts on their next possession thanks in part to some good hustle on the offensive boards. A Villanueva short jumper in the lane gave the hosts a three-point lead at 116-113 with 33.3 seconds to go.
On Denver's next trip, J.R. Smith's off-balanced three drew nothing but air and Milwaukee secured the rebound. Luke Ridnour was fouled and made 1-of-2 from the stripe to extend the lead to four.
"I think J.R. [Smith] made the decision [to shoot] on his own," Nuggets head coach George Karl said. "He was our first option. He has the ability to make shots off-balance a little bit."
Following a layup by Anthony and 1-of-2 effort from the line by Sessions, the Bucks would again have a three-point advantage, this time for good. An attempted Billups' shot with four seconds left came up short and Milwaukee held on for the win.
In a high-scoring and back-and-forth first quarter, Villanueva's half-court heave to end the period gave the Bucks a 36-35 lead.
The up-tempo play continued in the second and after six straight points from Kleiza got the Nuggets even, Smith drained a three-pointer to put Denver ahead 44-41 a little over two minutes in.
Milwaukee maintained a slim edge for the majority of the quarter. But Denver mounted a 10-1 run in the last minute of the half. Dahntay Jones capped the surge with a half-court buzzer-beater, giving the visitors a 72-69 lead at the break.
Midway through the third quarter, a pair of free throws by Anthony put the Nuggets up by five at 84-79. But a Sessions' three-point play, a technical free throw and trey by Villanueva gave the Bucks a brief 93-90 edge.
Denver would get a Carter jumper and 1-of-2 effort from the charity stripe by Kleiza in the final minute to tie the game at 96-96 heading into the fourth quarter.
Game Notes
Denver will host Boston on Monday, while Milwaukee will visit Dallas on Wednesday...Despite the setback, the Nuggets have won four of the last six games in the series, including a 114-105 victory in Denver on November 18.
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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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