Grand Canyon Lopes vs St. Mary's Gaels Prediction, 3/22/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Grand Canyon Lopes vs St. Mary's Gaels

Date: Friday, March 22, 2024

Location: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, WA

TV: truTV

Odds/Point Spread: Grand Canyon (+6)

The Grand Canyon Lopes (29-4) are on their way to Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on Friday where they will play the St. Mary's Gaels (26-7) in the NCAA Tournament. St. Mary's opens this matchup as 6-point favorites from oddsmakers. The total comes in at 131.5.

The Grand Canyon Lopes took the court against UT Arlington and walked away with a win by a score of 89-74 in their last contest. Grand Canyon wrapped up the game having earned a 39.7% FG percentage (23 out of 58) and knocked down 6 out of their 20 three-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Lopes buried 37 of 50 attempts for a percentage of 74.0%. In the matter of hauling in boards, they earned 30 with 10 of them being offensive. They also doled out 13 assists in this matchup in addition to forcing the opposition into 26 turnovers and having 12 steals. In reference to defense, Grand Canyon allowed the other team to go 49.0% from the field on 25 out of 51 shooting. UT Arlington dished out 11 dimes and had 7 steals in this matchup. Moreover, UT Arlington grabbed 26 rebounds (6 offensive, 20 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. UT Arlington finished the game shooting 63.6% from the free throw line by knocking down 14 of their 22 shots. They also made 10 out of their 27 attempts from 3-point range. With respect to fouls, the Lopes finished with 22 while UT Arlington racked up 33 fouls.

Tyon Grant-Foster is someone who was a major factor for this contest. He ended up going 41.7% from the floor and distributed 2 assists. He was on the court for 33 minutes and snagged 9 rebounds. He ended up finishing with 22 points on 5 of 12 shooting.

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Grand Canyon will take the court with a win-loss mark of 29-4 on the campaign. They currently have an average of 79.8 points per outing (44th in college hoops) while hitting 46.5% from the field. The Lopes are hitting 34.4% on shots from distance (238 of 691) and 75.3% from the charity stripe. As a team, Grand Canyon is grabbing 38.2 rebounds per game and has totaled 409 dimes on the season, which ranks 222nd in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. They are losing possession via turnover 12.3 times per game and as a group are committing 17.9 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

On the defensive end, the Lopes are able to force 13.9 turnovers per contest and they draw 20.0 fouls. They rank 51st in college basketball in allowing assists with 367 conceded for the year. The Lopes are giving up a shooting percentage of 40.5% (772 of 1,907) and they relinquish 33.1 rebounds per game as a squad. They are relinquishing 32.4% on shots from downtown while they are 46th in college basketball in opponents PPG (66.9).

When they last stepped on the court, the St. Mary's Gaels walked away with a victory by a final of 69-60 when they played Gonzaga. In reference to how they rebounded, St. Mary's allowed Gonzaga to get 20 in all (3 on the offensive side). They shot 18.2% from three-point range by shooting 2 out of 11 and ended up going 10 out of 14 at the free throw line (71.4%). The Gaels allowed Gonzaga to make 24 out of their 54 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 44.4% for the game. When this game wrapped up, the Gaels went 24 out of 51 from the floor which had them shooting 47.1%. Regarding shots from distance, St. Mary's buried 6 of their 15 tries (40.0%). They were able to convert 15 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 68.2%. Gonzaga had 18 personal fouls in this contest which took the Gaels to the free throw line for 22 attempts. They gave up possession of the ball 11 times, while getting 6 steals in this matchup. The Gaels pulled down 26 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 37 in this game.

Alex Ducas pitched in for the Gaels for this game. He racked up 21 points in his 32 mins on the court and had 4 assists for the game. He buried 7 out of 11 in the game for a rate of 63.6%, and tallied 4 rebounds.

St. Mary's has a mark of 26-7 on the season. In terms of offensive execution, the Gaels are hitting on 46.9% from the floor, which has them ranked 58th in college hoops. St. Mary's has scored 2,450 points on the campaign (74.2 per contest) and they grab 39.5 boards per game. They are dishing out assists 16.2 times per game (29th in the country) and they cough up possession 10.1 times per game. The Gaels are committing 16.2 personal fouls per contest and they shoot 67.8% from the free throw line.

The Gaels on the defensive side of the court are 2nd in Division 1 in points per game surrendered with 58.7. They have forced 10.8 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 39.5% from the field (8th in college basketball). The St. Mary's defense surrenders 31.5% on shots from beyond the perimeter (162 of 514) and opponents are knocking down 71.4% of their foul shots. They surrender 9.9 assists and 27.5 boards per contest, which is 9th and 1st in college basketball.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take St. Mary's (-6)

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