BYU Cougars vs St. Mary's Gaels Prediction, 3/6/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: BYU Cougars vs St. Mary's Gaels

Date: Monday, March 6, 2023

Location: Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, NV

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: BYU (+7)

The St. Mary's Gaels (25-6) will try to defeat the BYU Cougars (19-14) at Orleans Arena on Monday. St. Mary's opens as 7-point favorites. The betting total comes in at 148.

The BYU Cougars played Loyola Marymount and earned the victory with a final of 73-63 in their last game. Concerning personal fouls, the Cougars ended up finishing with 19 and Loyola Marymount recorded 25 personal fouls. They also converted 7 of 27 tries from distance. Loyola Marymount went 61.5% at the charity stripe by making 8 of 13 tries. Furthermore, Loyola Marymount pulled down 23 rebounds (8 offensive, 15 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Loyola Marymount earned 9 assists and had 6 steals for this game. When talking about defending, BYU allowed 40.0% from the floor on 24 of 60 shooting. They also distributed 8 assists in this contest in addition to forcing 10 turnovers and earning 6 steals. Regarding pulling down rebounds, they collected 28 with 6 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Cougars knocked down 21 of their 26 tries for a percentage of 80.8%. BYU ended having earned a 52.4% FG percentage (22 out of 42) and buried 8 out of their 17 3-point shots.

Rudi Williams is someone who played a role for the matchup. He walked away from this one shooting 41.7% from the field and also dished out 2 assists. He saw the court for 28 mins and grabbed 2 boards. He was able to score 23 points on 5 of 12 shooting.

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BYU comes into this one with a record of 19-14 for the year. They turn it over 14.3 times per game and as a team are committing 19.2 personal fouls per game. As a unit, BYU is grabbing 37.7 boards per game and has racked up 489 dimes for the campaign, which has them ranked 30th in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Cougars are shooting 34.1% on shots from downtown (272 of 798) and 71.9% from the charity stripe. They average 75.7 points per outing (86th in college hoops) on 45.4% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Cougars are forcing their opponents into 13.7 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 17.7 personal fouls. They are conceding 33.6% on shots from beyond the arc and they rank 171st in college hoops in PPG allowed (69.7). The Cougars defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 43.0% (795 of 1,849) and they relinquish 31.8 rebounds per game as a unit. They rank 195th in Division 1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 398 surrendered so far this season.

For their last game, the St. Mary's Gaels took a loss by a final score of 77-68 when they faced Gonzaga. The Gaels were able to snag 16 defensive boards and 5 offensive boards totaling 21 for this game. They gave up possession 10 times, while getting 5 steals in the game. Gonzaga earned 19 personal fouls for the game which took the Gaels to the free throw line for a total of 22 shots. They were able to convert 16 of those for a rate of 72.7%. When it comes to three-point attempts, St. Mary's buried 8 out of 18 tries (44.4%). When the final whistle was blown, the Gaels walked away from this one shooting 22 for 46 from the field which had them sitting at 47.8%. The Gaels permitted Gonzaga to convert 28 of 52 tries from the floor which gave them a rate of 53.8% in this game. They wrapped up this game 28.6% from three-point range by going 4 of 14 and walked away from this one shooting 17 of 20 at the charity stripe (85.0%). Concerning cleaning the glass, St. Mary's allowed Gonzaga to collect 28 overall (6 offensive).

Logan Johnson ended up having an impact for the Gaels in the matchup. He earned 27 points in his 38 mins on the court and added 3 dimes for the contest. He converted 7 of 12 in this game for a field goal percentage of 58.3%, and accumulated 5 rebounds.

St. Mary's has a mark of 25-6 on the year. When it comes to executing on offense, the Gaels are connecting on 46.0% from the field, which is 94th in the country. St. Mary's has 2,228 points this year (71.9 per contest) and they collect 36.1 boards per contest. They are dishing out assists 12.7 times per game (217th in college basketball) and they are turning it over 10.6 times per game. The Gaels are committing 16.5 fouls every game and they go 69.6% from the charity stripe.

The St. Mary's defense allows 32.0% from downtown (164 of 513) and opponents are connecting on 74.8% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 7.4 assists and 28.5 total rebounds per game, ranking them 1st and 2nd in college basketball. The Gaels defensively are ranked 5th in D-1 in PPG allowed with 59.3. They are forcing their opponents into 12.6 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 40.7% from the field (32nd in D-1).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take BYU (+7)

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