St. Mary's Gaels vs BYU Cougars Prediction, 1/28/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: St. Mary's Gaels vs BYU Cougars

Date: Saturday, January 28, 2023

Location: Marriott Center in Provo, UT

TV: fuboTV

The St. Mary's Gaels (18-4) are on their way to Marriott Center on Saturday where they will play the BYU Cougars (14-9).

The St. Mary's Gaels faced off with Santa Clara and took home the win by a score of 77-58 in their last contest. In reference to personal fouls, the Gaels walked away with 17 while Santa Clara totaled 16 personal fouls. They also buried 7 out of their 14 tries from distance. Santa Clara finished the game shooting 50.0% at the free throw line by making 7 of their 14 attempts. In addition, Santa Clara snagged 22 rebounds (7 offensive, 15 defensive), but didn't have a block. Santa Clara distributed 6 assists and had 3 steals in the game. When talking about defending, St. Mary's allowed the other team to shoot 46.8% from the floor on 22 out of 47 shooting. They also recorded 12 assists for the contest in addition to creating 13 turnovers and getting 5 steals. Regarding hauling in rebounds, they compiled 26 with 8 of them being of the offensive sort. At the charity stripe, the Gaels knocked down 8 of 11 shots for a percentage of 72.7%. St. Mary's ended the game having earned a 52.6% field goal percentage (30 out of 57) and buried 9 of 20 shots from distance.

Aidan Mahaney is a guy who was a major contributor for the matchup. He accumulated 20 points on 8 of 15 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 31 mins played and totaled 2 rebounds. He walked away from this one shooting 53.3% from the field and also distributed 1 assist.

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St. Mary's heads into this one with a record of 18-4 so far this season. They average 72.1 pts per game (173rd in Division 1) while hitting 46.7% from the floor. The Gaels are hitting 37.9% on shots beyond the perimeter (179 of 472) and 66.2% from the free throw line. As a unit, St. Mary's is collecting 37.0 boards per contest and is sitting with 287 dimes this season, which ranks 126th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 10.8 times per game and as a unit are committing 16.4 personal fouls per game.

On the defensive end, the Gaels are able to force 13.1 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 16.1 personal fouls. They give up 30.9% on shots from beyond the arc and they rank 5th in college basketball in points per game allowed (57.2). The Gaels defense is allowing a field goal percentage of 39.5% (449 of 1,137) and they concede 28.5 rebounds per contest as a team. They currently rank 2nd in Division 1 in giving up assists with 162 surrendered for the campaign.

The last time they took the hardwood, the BYU Cougars took a defeat with a final score of 82-74 against San Francisco. With respect to how they cleaned up the glass, BYU allowed San Francisco to snag 27 in total (6 on the offensive glass). They finished shooting 41.4% from distance by shooting 12 of 29 and ended up shooting 24 of 27 at the free throw line (88.9%). The Cougars permitted San Francisco to convert 23 of their 50 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.0% in this contest. Overall, the Cougars ended up shooting 28 out of 55 from the field which had them shooting 50.9%. With regard to 3-point shots, BYU converted 5 out of their 17 tries (29.4%). They were able to convert 13 of the free throw tries for a rate of 81.3%. San Francisco had 16 personal fouls in this game which got the Cougars to the free throw line for a total of 16 tries. They gave up possession 15 times, while recording 11 steals in this game. The Cougars recorded 21 defensive boards and 5 offensive rebounds totaling 26 for this contest.

Rudi Williams pitched in for the Cougars in the game. He recorded 28 points in his 29 minutes on the hardwood and had 2 assists in the game. He made 10 out of 13 for the game for a field goal percentage of 76.9%, and accounted for 2 rebounds.

BYU has a mark of 14-9 for the season. On the offensive side of the court, the Cougars are connecting on 44.8% from the field, which is 164th in the nation. BYU has scored 1,731 points so far this year (75.3 per contest) and they pull in 38.8 boards per contest. They are earning an assist 15.4 times per game (49th in college basketball) and they are turning it over 15.7 times per game. The Cougars have committed 19.3 fouls per contest and they shoot 71.4% from the charity stripe.

The Cougars on the defensive side of the court are 173rd in D-1 in PPG given up with 69.1. They are able to force 14.6 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 42.4% from the floor (136th in D-1). The BYU defense surrenders 33.7% on shots from 3-point land (166 of 492) and their opposition knocks down 68.0% of their free throw attempts. They surrender 12.1 dimes and 32.2 boards every game, which has them ranked 141st and 74th in college hoops.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take St. Mary's

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