Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s Prediction and Betting Preview
SportsMemo handicapper JM Sports gives his Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s prediction in the West Coast Conference. At the time of posting, the Bulldogs have opened as a 16-point home favorite over the road Gaels, with the total sitting at 147.5 points.
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Saturday, February 12 | West Coast Conference Betting Notes |
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Point Spread: | Gonzaga Bulldogs -16 vs Saint Mary’s Gaels |
Total: | 147.5 Points |
Game Time: | 10:00pm ET / 7:00pm PT |
Arena: | McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, WA |
TV: | ESPN2 |
Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s Analysis
Quite an exciting match-up that is set to tip-off tonight in the West Coast Conference as the #22 ranked St. Mary’s team heads to take on the #2 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs!
Obviously, these two teams have theirs eye set on counting down the net at the end of the tournament, but for now, these two teams are battling it out for the top spot in their conference and St. Mary’s isn’t far behind the #2 team in the nation.
They will stop at nothing to take down Gonzaga, but history may make that difficult (as well as an impressive team from Gonzaga) as they are just 12-53 against Gonzaga since 1997, and the Zags hold a 22-3 advantage on their home court in that time frame!
Tall Task For Saint Mary’s
St. Mary’s has found themselves in the top-25, but Gonzaga holds the spotlight and the eyes in the conference, but quietly, St. Mary’s is making a real name for themselves this season.
They are 19-5 on the year and winning by double digit points on average, but a majority of those losses have came on the road, where they have posted a record of just 6-4. When you disregard that and look at just the last five games, St. Mary’s has been dominating opponents winning by over 16 PPG.
The way this team does it, is by controlling both sides of the ball as St. Mary’s ranks in the top-50 in efficiency in offense and defense this year!
Although, their defense has been the back bone, ranking #18 in the country in efficiency & #10 in PPG allowed on the year holding teams to just 52. 1 PPG on the year, which includes allowing just 61 PPG on the road and under 61 against conference foes.
The offense has been good this season, but they have shown some issues away from their home court, they are going to have to play lights-out in all aspects of the game to take down this top team, yet St Mary’s is just 2-5 away from home against teams that rank in KenPom’s top-100 overall but the offense has posted a 6-3 record against teams in the top-100 defenses.
Bulldogs Bullying Opponents on Both Sides of Ball
Gonzaga comes into this game tied for the 2nd longest active win streak in the country, cashing in on 13 straight games and improving their record on the season to 20-2.
This Gonzaga offense is just unbelievable to say the least so far, they are #1 in the country in PPG, #1 in FG%, #20 in 3PT% and #2 in assists, which puts this team at the #2 ranking in the country in terms of efficiency.
They have averaged almost 91 PPG on the year, while putting up 93 PPG on their home court! That is a number that St. Mary’s is going to have to bring down drastically, or improve their offense exponentially to compete with that caliber of offense.
Gonzaga is 15-1 on their home court, where they have held opponents under 60 PPG and have held their last 6 opponents to 36.1% or below in shooting percentage.
That shows how much they have dominated both sides of the ball, against conference opponents, Gonzaga has put up over 98 PPG this year (unbelievable numbers) while holding opponents under 60 PPG in the last five games overall.
Gonzaga has dominated the floor with their height, but they don’t have quite as big of a height advantage on St. Mary’s as they have had on most of their other opporents. That height, has helped them pull down the 2nd most rebounds per game in the country and they are #8 in D1 in blocks per game.
hey are #1 in two point shooting percentage and #2 defending against the two point shot, with the height dominating the paint, yet this team can still shoot from distance, ranking #16 in 3PT% and ranking #17 guarding teams beyond the arc.
While St. Mary’s has a defense that has the capability of producing, Gonzaga hasn’t skipped a beat against top tier defensive talent, they are 6-1 in their last seven games against defenses that rank in the top 50 in terms of efficiency, and dominating those games at that, putting up over 85 PPG!
Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s Prediction
These top two teams from the West Coast Conference square off as both teams look to add a big win against a conference rival and a resume builder as we get closer and closer to the month of March.
Not only has Gonzaga dominated this season, with their only two wins coming against two legitimate championship contenders, but they have dominated Saint Mary’s and they look to do it again tonight.
Even though Gonzaga is 7-1-1 against the spread in the last nine, this St. Mary’s team is a top-25 team for a reason and while there is small potential to win the game outright, I think their defense is talented enough to at least hold this game within reach of the spread.
Gonzaga has won consistently, but they haven’t been as much of a guarantee against the spread.
Prediction: Saint Mary’s +16
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Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s Preview from GoldSheet
College Basketball Stat Sheet
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