Santa Clara Broncos vs Gonzaga Bulldogs Prediction, 2/2/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Santa Clara Broncos vs Gonzaga Bulldogs

Date: Thursday, February 2, 2023

Location: McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, WA

TV: fuboTV

The Gonzaga Bulldogs (18-4) will compete against the Santa Clara Broncos (16-7) at McCarthey Athletic Center on Thursday.

The Santa Clara Broncos stepped onto the hardwood against Pacific and went home with a loss by a final score of 95-89 in their last contest. Santa Clara ended the game with a 51.6% field goal percentage (33 out of 64) and buried 8 out of their 27 shots from distance. At the free throw line, the Broncos converted 15 of their 25 tries for a rate of 60.0%. With regard to rebounding, they compiled 32 with 5 of them being offensive. They also doled out 16 assists for this contest while forcing 12 turnovers and having 6 steals. Concerning defense, Santa Clara let their opponent shoot 53.2% from the floor on 33 of 62 shooting. Pacific recorded 24 assists and had 4 steals in the game. Furthermore, Pacific totaled 25 boards (4 offensive, 21 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. Pacific finished the contest at 70.6% from the charity stripe by burying 12 of 17 attempts. They also made 17 of their 31 attempts from 3-point land. In the matter of fouls, the Broncos ended up finishing with 18 while Pacific totaled 19 fouls.

Brandin Podziemski is a player who was a major contributor in the matchup. He finished shooting 61.9% from the field and recorded 3 assists. He was on the court for 38 mins played and pulled down 9 boards. He totaled 38 points on 13 out of 21 shooting.

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Santa Clara will enter this game with a mark of 16-7 for the season. They currently have an average of 75.4 pts per game (95th in the country) while shooting 44.5% from the floor. The Broncos are shooting 35.1% on shots from downtown (183 of 521) and 72.0% from the free throw line. As a team, Santa Clara is grabbing 39.0 rebounds per game and is sitting with 311 assists on the campaign, which has them ranked 122nd in the nation in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 13.0 times per game and as a group they commit 15.2 personal fouls every game.

When they are on defense, the Broncos are forcing their opponents into 12.1 turnovers per contest while drawing 17.5 personal fouls. They are ranked 325th in college hoops in giving up assists with 330 conceded this season. The Broncos defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 43.5% (614 of 1,413) and they relinquish 32.7 rebounds per game as a group. They relinquish 36.8% on 3-point attempts and they are 253rd in college basketball in opponents PPG (72.0).

For their last game, the Gonzaga Bulldogs went home victorious with a score of 82-67 against Portland. When talking about rebounding, Gonzaga permitted Portland to grab 24 overall (5 on the offensive glass). They finished 41.7% from behind the 3-point line by going 10 out of 24 and ended up going 11 out of 16 from the charity stripe (68.8%). The Bulldogs allowed Portland to make 23 of 48 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 47.9% in the game. When the final whistle blew, the Bulldogs finished the game shooting 29 out of 56 from the field which gave them a rate of 51.8%. Pertaining to three-point attempts, Gonzaga buried 11 of their 23 tries (47.8%). They were able to knock down 13 of them for a percentage of 65.0%. Portland committed 17 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Bulldogs to the charity stripe for a total of 20 attempts. They also coughed it up 12 times, while recording 12 steals for this game. The Bulldogs were able to collect 19 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 26 in the game.

Julian Strawther was important for the Bulldogs for the contest. He recorded 40 points in his 37 minutes on the court and totaled 1 assist in this contest. He made 14 out of 21 in the game giving him a rate of 66.7%, and had 6 rebounds.

Gonzaga has a mark of 18-4 on the season. In terms of offensive execution, the Bulldogs are shooting 51.8% from the field, which is 1st in the country. Gonzaga has earned 1,899 points on the season (86.3 per game) and they pull down 37.3 boards per game. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 16.5 times per game (19th in the country) and they cough up possession 11.5 times per game. The Bulldogs are responsible for committing 16.7 fouls per game and they hit 68.8% from the free throw line.

The Bulldogs on defense are ranked 288th in college hoops in points per game surrendered with 73.4. They are forcing their opponents into 14.7 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.6% from the floor (260th in college hoops). The Gonzaga defense concedes 34.6% on three-point shots (175 of 506) and opponents are converting on 73.3% of their shots from the free throw line. They have conceded 12.3 dimes and 31.9 rebounds per game, ranking them 151st and 65th in college hoops.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Santa Clara

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