VCU Rams vs St. Mary's Gaels Prediction, 3/17/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: VCU Rams vs St. Mary's Gaels

Date: Friday, March 17, 2023

Location: MVP Arena in Albany, NY

TV: TBS

Odds/Point Spread: VCU (+6)

The St. Mary's Gaels (26-7) are welcoming the VCU Rams (27-7) at MVP Arena on Friday. St. Mary's opens this matchup as 6-point favorites. The total comes in at 123.

The VCU Rams stepped onto the hardwood against Dayton and walked away with a win by a score of 68-56 in their last game. In regard to fouls, the Rams ended up finishing with 19 and Dayton totaled 21 fouls. They knocked down 3 of 22 tries from beyond the perimeter. Dayton finished the contest at 85.0% from the free throw line by knocking down 17 of 20 tries. On top of that, Dayton totaled 36 boards (16 offensive, 20 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Dayton totaled 11 dimes and had 1 steal in this game. In reference to the defense, VCU allowed the other team to go 32.1% from the field on 18 out of 56 shooting. They also doled out 17 assists in the game as well as creating 5 turnovers and having 4 steals. Concerning grabbing rebounds, they compiled a total of 32 with 11 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Rams made 12 of 20 attempts for a rate of 60.0%. VCU finished the game with a 46.2% FG percentage (24 of 52) and knocked down 8 of their 17 3-point attempts.

Jalen Deloach is one guy who was a factor for the matchup. He totaled 13 points on 5 out of 8 shooting. He saw the court for 33 minutes played and also snagged 10 rebounds. He went 62.5% from the field and dished out 3 assists.

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VCU heads into this one with a win-loss record of 27-7 on the season. They have an average of 71.4 points per game (186th in the nation) while hitting 46.5% from the field. The Rams are hitting 34.7% on three-point attempts (207 of 596) and 69.7% from the free throw line. As a team, VCU is grabbing 33.3 boards per contest and has earned 449 dimes on the year, which has them ranked 123rd in college hoops in terms of passing. They are losing possession via turnover 13.4 times per contest and as a unit they commit 16.3 personal fouls per contest.

Defensively, the Rams are forcing their opponents into 16.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 19.7 fouls. They currently rank 132nd in college hoops in giving up assists to the opposition with 392 surrendered for the campaign. The Rams defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 41.5% (769 of 1,854) and they concede 32.9 rebounds per game as a group. They surrender 32.3% on 3-point shots while they are 24th in college basketball in PPG allowed (62.9).

When they last played, the St. Mary's Gaels took a defeat with a final score of 77-51 against Gonzaga. With respect to how they attacked the glass, St. Mary's permitted Gonzaga to snag 32 in all (5 offensive). They finished shooting 57.1% from beyond the perimeter by connecting on 8 of 14 and walked away from this one shooting 11 of 14 from the free throw line (78.6%). The Gaels allowed Gonzaga to convert 29 of their 50 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 58.0% for the matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Gaels shot 18 out of 54 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 33.3%. With respect to shots from 3-point land, St. Mary's buried 4 out of their 16 attempts (25.0%). They were able to knock down 11 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 73.3%. Gonzaga earned 16 personal fouls for the game which got the Gaels to the free throw line for a total of 15 tries. They coughed it up 10 times, while getting 4 steals for the game. The Gaels collected 17 defensive boards and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 25 in the matchup.

Logan Johnson ended up being important for the Gaels in the game. He tallied 20 points in his 30 minutes on the court and had 2 dimes for the matchup. He made 7 out of 16 in the game for a rate of 43.8%, and added 4 rebounds.

St. Mary's has a record of 26-7 so far this year. On the offensive side of the ball, the Gaels are connecting on 45.8% from the floor, which is ranked 102nd in college basketball. St. Mary's has totaled 2,355 pts on the year (71.4 per game) and they average 35.7 rebounds per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 12.5 times per contest (224th in college basketball) and they turn it over 10.7 times per game. The Gaels are responsible for committing 16.6 personal fouls every game and they connect on 69.3% from the free throw line.

The St. Mary's defense surrenders 32.5% from downtown (176 of 541) and opponents are converting on 74.5% of their free throw attempts. They allow 7.8 dimes and 28.5 rebounds on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 4th and 2nd in those categories. The Gaels on defense are ranked 5th in college basketball in points given up per game with 60.1. They are forcing their opponents into 12.4 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 41.5% from the floor (52nd in college hoops).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take VCU (+6)

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