The Saint Mary’s Gaels will be the next team to try to beat the Gonzaga Bulldogs in West Coast Conference play. Will the Gaels become the first to take down Gonzaga in the league? Or will the Bulldogs keep on rolling? Going into the game, NCAA Futures have Gonzaga tied with Kansas and Baylor with +1000 odds to win the 2020 Championship.
Betting on the Gonzaga Bulldogs (24-1 Overall / 10-0 Conference)
It’s just another day at the office for the Bulldogs on Thursday, as they romped through another hapless team, defeating the Loyola Marymount Lions, 85-67 at home in Spokane. Once again, the Bulldogs leaned on their efficient offense to down an opponent. They shot 60 percent from the field and despite going 7 of 20 from deep. Filip Petrusev, arguably the best player in the West Coast Conference, scored 21 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and had an 11-of-15 line from the charity stripe. Three other starters also scored in double figures, and that’s one reason why Gonzaga is a constant threat to any team. The Bulldogs are the highest-scoring team in college basketball today, putting up 88.6 points per game, while also shooting 50.9 percent from the field. St. Mary’s could keep up with the Bulldogs on offense but not for an entire game, partly because Gonzaga’s bench is deeper.
The over is 3-0 in the Bulldogs’ last three road games.
Betting on the St Mary’s Gaels (20-5 Overall / 7-3 Conference)
The Gaels had a chance to come into the game against Gonzaga riding a wave of momentum, but they missed on that chance after losing to the BYU Cougars on the road last Saturday, which snapped their four-game win streak. However, the Gaels still managed to rebound by beating the San Diego Toreros on the road on Thursday, 66-60. The Gaels failed to cover the spread (-11) against San Diego, but they did against BYU as a 6-point underdogs. Despite the win over San Diego, the Gaels are still going to need a better performance to upset Gonzaga, especially on offense. They shot just 39.3 percent from the field in the San Diego game and went an atrocious 1-of 15 from behind the arc. St. Mary’s is definitely capable of being better on offense. The Gaels are seventh in the nation in effective field goal percentage (55.4) and 17th in field goal percentage (47.6). They’re also 10th in adjusted offensive efficiency with 115.5 points per 100 possessions.
The Gaels are 5-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last six games.
