St. Mary's Gaels vs Gonzaga Bulldogs Prediction, 3/8/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: St. Mary's Gaels vs Gonzaga Bulldogs

Date: Monday, March 8, 2021

Location: Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, NV

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: St. Mary's (+17.5)

The St. Mary's Gaels (14-8) head to Orleans Arena on Monday where they'll meet the Gonzaga Bulldogs (24-0). St. Mary's opens this matchup as 17.5-point underdogs. The over/under opens at 142.

St. Mary's enters this game with a record of 14-8 on the campaign. The Gaels are shooting 30.1% on 3-pointers (139 of 462) and 72.8% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 64.5 pts per game (319th in the country) while going 42.4% from the floor. They are giving up possession 11.2 times per contest and as a group they commit 17.1 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, St. Mary's is snagging 34.6 boards per contest and has tallied 236 assists for the year, which is 281st in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. When they are on the defensive end, the Gaels are forcing 12.4 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 15.9 personal fouls. They currently rank 17th in college hoops in allowing assists to their opponents with 184 surrendered on the campaign. The Gaels defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 42.3% (500 of 1,182) and they relinquish 31.3 boards per contest as a basketball team. They give up 34.9% on 3-point shots and they rank 11th in the country in PPG allowed (61.6).

The St. Mary's Gaels played the Loyola Marymount Lions and notched a win by a score of 52-47 in their last game. St. Mary's ended the game with a 39.5% FG percentage (17 of 43) and knocked down 2 of their 15 3-pointers. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Gaels buried 16 of their 20 attempts for a rate of 80.0%. In terms of getting rebounds, they compiled 24 with 6 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 7 assists for the matchup as well as forcing the other team into 16 turnovers and having 7 steals. When talking about the defense, St. Mary's allowed the other team to shoot 37.2% from the field on 16 out of 43 shooting. Loyola Marymount recorded 8 dimes and had 3 steals in this matchup. On top of that, Loyola Marymount snagged 26 rebounds (6 offensive, 20 defensive) and added 1 block. Loyola Marymount finished the game at 92.3% at the free throw line by converting 12 of 13 tries. They buried 3 out of their 16 tries from 3-point range.

Logan Johnson is one guy who played a role in this game. He was able to score 17 points on 6 out of 12 shooting. He was on the court for 39 minutes and collected 6 rebounds. Johnson finished 50.0% from the floor and also distributed 1 assist. Another guy that had an impact in the game for the Gaels was Matthias Tass. He grabbed 6 rebounds in his 36 minutes played. He finished 31.3% from the floor for the contest by going 5-of-16 (12 points). Overall, Tass totaled 2 assists.

Gonzaga has a record of 24-0 for the campaign. The Bulldogs are committing 16.9 fouls every game and they connect on 73.2% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 18.7 times per game (2nd in the nation) and they turn the ball over 12.3 times per contest. Gonzaga has accounted for 2,229 pts for the season (92.9 per contest) and they pull in 37.8 rebounds per game. As an offensive unit, the Bulldogs are hitting on 55.3% from the field, which is 10th in D-1. The Bulldogs on the defensive side of the court are 149th in college hoops in points given up per game with 69.3. They have given up 11.6 dimes and 30.5 rebounds on a nightly basis, ranking them 81st and 21st in college basketball. The Gonzaga defense surrenders 33.0% on 3-pointers (165 of 500) and their opponents are making 70.2% of their foul shots. They are forcing 15.7 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 41.9% from the floor (106th in the country).

For their last game, the Gonzaga Bulldogs got the victory with a final of 86-69 when they played the Loyola Marymount Lions. The Bulldogs snagged 17 defensive boards and 2 offensive boards for a total of 19 in this contest. They coughed up the ball 11 times, while earning 9 steals in this contest. The Lions earned 24 personal fouls for this game which took the Bulldogs to the free throw line for a total of 32 attempts. They were able to knock down 21 of the free throws for a rate of 65.6%. Regarding three-point shots, Gonzaga made 9 of their 17 tries (52.9%). When the game finished, the Bulldogs finished shooting 28 out of 48 from the floor which had them shooting 58.3%. The Bulldogs permitted the Lions to bury 26 of their 53 attempts from the floor which had them at 49.1% for the contest. They wrapped up this game 40.0% from distance by hitting 6 out of 15 and finished the game at 11 out of 17 from the free throw line (64.7%). Regarding cleaning the glass, Gonzaga permitted Loyola Marymount to pull down 30 overall (8 offensive).

Corey Kispert was important for the Bulldogs in the matchup. He converted 6 of 12 in the game for a rate of 50.0%, and accounted for 5 rebounds. Kispert scored 24 points in his 36 mins on the court, but didn't get an assist. Another guy who was a determining factor for Gonzaga was Drew Timme. He left the arena with 4 dimes in 29 mins on the court, and he shot 5 of 9 from the floor. Timme wrapped this one up going 55.6% from the field in addition to contributing 16 points and 7 total rebounds.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take St. Mary's (+17.5)

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