College Basketball Betting -- Bitter rival seeks to end #1 Gonzaga's undefeated streak

  • In Charles Jay
  • Thu, Feb 18th, 2021 7:48:31 pm
  • By Charles Jay - Exclusive to OSGA


Can the Saint Mary's Gaels manage to keep things relatively close in their West Coast Conference game against the #1-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs?


The Gonzaga Bulldogs are the #1 team in the country, and they look like a real juggernaut as we head toward the post-season. We're not sure what could really get in their way, although the Saint Mary's Gaels, a bitter West Coast Conference rival, will attempt to slow them down on Thursday night. .

Game time is 9 PM ET, and folks who are signed up with BetAnySports will be able to place wagers during the game itself as they take advantage of what is available through Sports Betting Prime.

Gonzaga is 20-0 and is aiming to become the first team since 1976 (Indiana) to win a national title while undefeated. Actually, #2 Baylor is on that same quest.

There was a previous meeting between these two.In that game, played on SMC's home court in Moraga, the 'Zags won 73-59, holding the Gaels to just 32.5% from inside the three-point arc.

That was a low scoring total for Gonzaga, which is ranked second in the nation in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency. They have stars throughout the lineup, and the brightest one is Jalen Suggs, a guard who was this program's highest-rated recruit ever, and is apparently a "one-and-done" player who could be one of the first five players taken in the NBA Draft.

With other performers like small forward Corey Kispert and 6-10 forward Drew Timme, this is a rather balanced unit.

Here are the college basketball betting odds, as they are posted at BetAnySports. As you can see, Gonzaga is laying a lot of points:

Gonzaga Bulldogs -20.5
Saint Mary's Gaels +20.5

Over 142 points -110
Under 142 points -110

Saint Mary's has been slapped down a few times when attempting to move up in class. They've been beaten by 17 points by Memphis and ten points by BYU previously. They got hit by a COVID situation, and did not play between January 23 and February 13. Here, they've had four days to prepare and will have three days off after this.

Meanwhile, Gonzaga has had glittering results against top-level competition, registering double-digit victories over the likes of Kansas, Iowa and Virginia, in addition to BYU and Auburn. This will be their first home game since January 23, and there will be some friends and family in the audience.

Saint Mary's does excel in certain areas of defense. The Gaels are seventh in the nation in defensive rebounding percentage and have permitted opponents to shoot just 44.7% in two-point range. It should be noted that Gonzaga is not a team that shoots three-pointers in profusion. But they have shot 64.5% inside the arc, which is best in the nation.

In the previous meeting, Gonzaga shot 58.5% in two-pointers, while hitting only 32.5% in two-point range themselves. But the 'Zags only had three offensive rebounds. If Saint Mary's can do a little better job defensively on the inside, they can make this relatively competitive.

Another factor may be the pace. While Gonzaga definitely likes to hurry things up, Saint Mary's seemed to have had some success slowing things down in the last encounter. Remember that they are 350th out of 357 Division I teams in Adjusted Tempo. So if this game doesn't get completely out of hand early, they are going to try and limit the number of possessions.

That's the only way they'll stay in the game, and it's something coach Randy Bennett is no stranger to doing against this opponent, as SMC has pulled some big upsets in the past. It's also why we would favor grabbing the points.


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