San Francisco Dons vs St. Mary's Gaels Prediction, 2/2/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: San Francisco Dons vs St. Mary's Gaels

Date: Thursday, February 2, 2023

Location: University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, CA

TV: ESPNU

The St. Mary's Gaels (19-4) will try to defeat the San Francisco Dons (15-9) at University Credit Union Pavilion on Thursday.

The San Francisco Dons faced off with San Diego and walked away with a win by a score of 94-81 in their last contest. When discussing personal fouls, the Dons ended up finishing with 20 and San Diego had 19 personal fouls. They also made 10 out of their 25 attempts from 3-point land. San Diego ended up going 86.4% from the charity stripe by making 19 of 22 shots. Moreover, San Diego had 24 boards (8 offensive, 16 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. San Diego totaled 12 assists and had 10 steals for the game. In reference to defense, San Francisco allowed 45.6% from the field on 26 of 57 shooting. They also doled out 21 assists for the matchup while creating 12 turnovers and earning 8 steals. When talking about getting rebounds, they earned a total of 29 with 5 of them being offensive. From the free throw line, the Dons made 16 of their 21 shots for a rate of 76.2%. San Francisco ended the contest with a 61.8% field goal percentage (34 of 55) and made 10 of 21 three-point shots.

Khalil Shabazz is one player who was a major contributor for this contest. He finished shooting 61.5% from the floor and also earned 3 dimes. He was on the hardwood for 36 mins and also collected 5 boards. He was able to score 26 points on 8 of 13 shooting.

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San Francisco enters this game with a win-loss record of 15-9 this season. They cough up possession 14.5 times per game and as a unit they are committing 17.8 personal fouls every game. As a unit, San Francisco is pulling in 35.4 rebounds per game and is sitting with 325 dimes for the campaign, which is 83rd in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Dons are shooting 35.9% on shots beyond the perimeter (243 of 677) and 74.8% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 75.8 pts per contest (85th in D-1) while shooting 45.3% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Dons have forced 12.8 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 16.7 fouls. They are 70th in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 246 surrendered for the year. The Dons are giving up a field goal percentage of 43.3% (594 of 1,371) and they surrender 31.8 boards per game as a team. They surrender 32.1% from 3-point land and they are 206th in college basketball in opponents points per game (70.3).

For their last game, the St. Mary's Gaels took home the win by a final score of 57-56 against BYU. In reference to rebounding, St. Mary's allowed BYU to get 24 in total (7 offensive). They finished 33.3% from beyond the perimeter by going 6 out of 18 and ended up going 6 out of 10 at the charity stripe (60.0%). The Gaels permitted BYU to bury 22 of 52 attempts from the floor which left them with a rate of 42.3% in the matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Gaels went 22 out of 51 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 43.1%. With regard to three-point shots, St. Mary's knocked down 6 of their 14 tries (42.9%). They were able to make 7 of the free throws for a clip of 87.5%. BYU had 10 fouls for this game which got the Gaels to the free throw line for 8 tries. They also coughed it up 10 times, while getting 8 steals in this game. The Gaels snagged 16 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive boards for a total of 21 in this game.

Logan Johnson pitched in for the Gaels for the matchup. He converted 5 out of 11 in this matchup for a field goal percentage of 45.5%, and had 3 rebounds. He had 14 points in his 37 mins of playing time and had 2 dimes in this matchup.

St. Mary's has a mark of 19-4 so far this year. The Gaels are responsible for committing 16.3 personal fouls every game and they shoot 66.7% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 12.9 times per game (215th in Division 1) and they turn it over 10.8 times per game. St. Mary's has accumulated 1,643 pts on the season (71.4 per contest) and they pull in 36.6 rebounds per contest. When it comes to offense, the Gaels are hitting on 46.6% from the floor, which ranks 65th in D-1.

The Gaels on defense are ranked 4th in college basketball in points given up per game with 57.1. They have forced 13.0 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 39.6% from the field (21st in Division 1). The St. Mary's defense gives up 31.0% on shots from distance (116 of 374) and their opposition makes 72.5% of their shots from the free throw line. They have relinquished 7.3 dimes and 28.7 rebounds on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 2nd and 4th in college hoops.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take San Francisco

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