Santa Clara Broncos vs Gonzaga Bulldogs Prediction, 2/25/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Santa Clara Broncos vs Gonzaga Bulldogs

Date: Thursday, February 25, 2021

Location: McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, WA

TV: CBSSN

Odds/Point Spread: Santa Clara (+31)

McCarthey Athletic Center is the venue where and the Gonzaga Bulldogs (22-0) will take on the Santa Clara Broncos (10-6) on Thursday. Gonzaga opens this matchup as 31-point favorites. The O/U is set at 153.5.

Santa Clara steps onto the hardwood with a win-loss record of 10-6 on the year. The Broncos are hitting 29.6% on shots from 3-point land (84 of 284) and 67.7% from the free throw line. They average 67.0 pts per contest (278th in D-1) while hitting 41.5% from the floor. They lose possession via turnover 13.4 times per game and as a group are committing 18.1 fouls per contest. As a unit, Santa Clara is grabbing 37.6 rebounds per game and has accounted for 196 assists for the campaign, which ranks 289th in the nation in terms of passing. On defense, the Broncos are forcing their opponents into 12.1 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 21.9 fouls. The Broncos defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 39.6% (383 of 967) and they relinquish 36.8 boards per game as a basketball team. They rank 75th in college basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 201 surrendered this year. They are giving up 31.4% on 3-point attempts while they are 106th in Division 1 in opponents PPG (67.7).

The Santa Clara Broncos faced off with the Pepperdine Waves and earned the victory with a final of 86-82 in their last contest. Santa Clara wrapped up the contest having earned a 47.3% field goal percentage (26 out of 55) and made 7 out of their 20 shots from downtown. At the free throw line, the Broncos knocked down 27 of their 36 tries for a percentage of 75.0%. Pertaining to hauling in boards, they collected 29 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. They also dished out 16 dimes in this matchup while getting 4 steals and 3 blocks. In terms of defense, Santa Clara allowed 47.3% from the field on 26 out of 55 shooting. Pepperdine dished out 17 dimes and had 4 steals for the matchup. In addition, the Waves collected 30 boards (8 offensive, 22 defensive) and had 3 blocked shots. Pepperdine ended up going 70.0% at the free throw line by knocking down 21 of 30 attempts. They converted 7 out of their 21 tries from beyond the arc.

Josip Vrankic is one player who had an impact in this matchup. He ended up with 26 points on 8 of 16 shooting. He played 29 minutes and also collected 9 boards. Vrankic ended up going 50.0% from the field and also dished out 3 dimes. One more player that was a determining factor in this game for the Broncos was Jalen Williams. He totaled 3 rebounds in 31 min played. He ended up shooting 40.0% from the field for this game by shooting 4-of-10 (17 points). When all was said and done, Williams had 1 assist.

Gonzaga has a mark of 22-0 so far this season. Gonzaga has tallied 2,054 pts so far this year (93.4 per game) and they snag 38.4 rebounds per game. The Bulldogs have committed 16.9 fouls per contest and they go 73.5% from the free throw line. When it comes to offense, the Bulldogs are shooting 55.4% from the field, which ranks 10th in Division 1. They are earning an assist 18.7 times per contest (3rd in college hoops) and they are turning it over 12.2 times per game. The Bulldogs defensively are ranked 142nd in college basketball in PPG given up with 69.1. The Gonzaga defense gives up 32.8% on shots from beyond the arc (153 of 467) and their opponents are connecting on 70.8% of their free throw shots. They concede 11.5 assists and 30.3 boards on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 72nd and 17th in those defensive categories. They are forcing their opponents into 15.7 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 41.4% from the field (87th in the country).

The last time they took the court, the Gonzaga Bulldogs took home the win by a final score of 106-69 against the San Diego Toreros. The Bulldogs were able to collect 31 defensive rebounds and 13 offensive rebounds for a total of 44 in the game. They rejected 3 attempts while getting 14 steals in this contest. The Toreros earned 19 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Bulldogs to the free throw line for a total of 25 shots. They were able to bury 21 of the free throw tries for a rate of 84.0%. With regard to 3-point shots, Gonzaga buried 5 of their 19 attempts (26.3%). At the conclusion of this game, the Bulldogs finished 40 out of 72 from the floor which had them shooting 55.6%. The Bulldogs allowed the Toreros to knock down 28 out of 64 attempts from the floor which had them sitting at 43.8% for the game. They finished 25.0% from behind the 3-point line by hitting 5 of 20 and walked away from this one shooting 8 out of 17 at the charity stripe (47.1%). Regarding rebounding, Gonzaga permitted San Diego to collect 26 in total (6 offensive).

Drew Timme ended up being a factor for the Bulldogs in this matchup. He made 7 out of 8 for this game giving him a rate of 87.5%, and accumulated 8 rebounds. Timme racked up 21 points in his 22 minutes of playing time and had 1 assist in this contest. Someone else that was pivotal for Gonzaga was Jalen Suggs. He finished this one with 1 assist in 28 mins played, and he shot 7 out of 14 from the floor. Suggs ended up shooting 50.0% from the field in addition to notching 17 points and 7 rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Gonzaga (-31)

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