The Saint Mary’s Gaels will take their turn in trying to be the first team to beat the No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs this season. Will the Gaels pull off a massive shocker? Or will Gonzaga just go about their usual business and pick up another win? Check out our preview of this game below.
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Betting Preview for the Gonzaga Bulldogs vs Saint Mary’s Gaels NCAA College Basketball Game on January 16 2021
Where: University Credit Union Pavilion
When: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 8:00 PM ET
Line: Gonzaga Bulldogs (odds) vs. Saint Mary’s Gaels (odds) – view all 2021 NCAAB lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Gonzaga Bulldogs (odds)
Record: 13-0 Overall / 4-0 Conference
The unstoppable force that is Gonzaga remains…well, unstoppable. Using a scorching scoring attack in the second half in which they shot 61 percent, the Bulldogs clobbered the Pepperdine Waves, 95-70, at home on Thursday. However, Gonzaga failed to cover the spread as 27-point favorites. Gonzaga was surprisingly challenged in the first half by the Waves, but the Bulldogs’ depth and overall talent were just too much for Pepperdine. Gonzaga is drawing firepower from top to bottom of the roster, as it has six players averaging at least 8.0 points per game, five of whom are shooting better than 50 percent from the field this season. Corey Kispert leads the team with 21.2 points per game, while Crew Timme is churning out 18.6 per contest. As a team, the Bulldogs are the best-scoring bunch in the nation, as they are putting up 96.1 points per game on 55.6 percent shooting – also tops in Division I basketball.
Gonzaga is 8-2 and 7-3 in its last 10 games against Saint Mary’s.
Betting on the Saint Mary’s Gaels (odds)
Record: 9-4 Overall / 0-2 Conference
The Gaels are yet to win this year. After their win over the Sacramento State Hornets, 63-45, at home on Dec. 30, Saint Mary’s have gone 0-2 straight up in losses to the Santa Clara Broncos (66-64) and to the BYU Cougars (62-52) on Jan. 9 and 14, respectively. The Gaels have been shooting bad from the field of late. They did not shoot above 39 percent in any of their last two games, while also going just 11 of 39 from deep in those contests. Saint Mary’s is highly dependent on its defense instead which is ranked 1oth nationally with just 61.0 points allowed per game. The Gaels prefer to play at an extremely conservative pace, which is why they are also 354th in the nation in terms of adjusted tempo, per KenPom. If the Gaels could keep that kind of game speed, they should be able to reduce the scoring opportunities of the high-scoring Zags.
The Gaels are Saint Mary’s is 5-5 against the spread in its last 10 home games.
Writer’s Prediction
Gonzaga wins, 77-64.
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