No. 7 St. Mary’s vs. No. 10 VCU Preview
Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena – Salt Lake City, UT
When: Thursday, March 16, 2017 – 7:20 PM ET
Line: St. Mary’s Gaels (-4) vs. VCU Rams (+4); total: 129.0 – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: TBS
College Basketball News and Previews
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- Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. South Carolina Gamecocks Preview
- North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Oregon Ducks Preview
Betting on the St. Mary’s Gaels (28-4, 16-2 WCC)
As seen in the large number of wins they racked up and small amount loses they only had, this was one of St. Mary’s best seasons to date. They even rate at the top 26 in offensive and defensive efficiency rankings, which is a big deal for a school that’s not exactly a household name in basketball.
A big part of the regular season success can be credited to owning arguably one of the best big man and overall players in the WCC in Jock Landale (16.8 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 1.2 BPG) – a skilled center that is a threat on both ends of the floor.
The Gaels have done a good job surrounding of Landale with loads of shooters – Calvin Hermanson (13.5 PPG), Emmet Naar (9.5 PPG), and Joe Rahon (8.1 PPG), among others. That, along with being patient in spreading the floor and moving the ball constantly for open looks are benefiting not only their prized man in the middle, but also his supporting cast. Such attack can be expected when they face VCU in the first round Thursday night.
If Landale and company are not battling their conference rival and (probably) kryptonite Gonzaga, whom they have lost all three matchups this season, they are to be trusted. The Gaels are 17-3 in their last 20 games (10-10 ATS).
Betting on the VCU Rams (26-8, 14-4 A-10)
Production-wise, VCU only has two players that every opponent would have to pay attention to – playmaker JeQuan Lewis, who paces the team in points and assists (14.7 PPG, 4.6 APG), and Justin Tillman (12.7 PPG, 8.8 RPG), whose size and speed creates matchup problems for the opposition.
In the same breath, though, one can also say that this team is as deep as it can come. Head coach Will Wade loves mixing his rotation and it has resulted into nine different VCU players appearing in 30 or more games this season.
Such practice has opened up a lot of good things for the group, since there’s constant fresh energy present on their unit in the floor. It allowed them to press often, push the pace anytime they want, and also pass the rock more efficiently. Among the key guys on Lewis’s and Tillman’s supporting crew are Mo Alie-Cox and Jonathan Williams, the former is a scrappy three/four that leads the team in blocks (2.1 BPG), while the latter is a facilitator (3.1 APG) that can also provide good defense.
VCU has some offense in them, as they put up 74.2 points per contest, but they are more dangerous on D, where they only allow opponents to score 66.4 points and shoot 41.8 percent.
Writer’s Prediction
The Gaels (-4) advance, 68-62.
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